JARS v53n4 - Tips for Beginners: An Abbreviated Glossary of Rhododendron Terms
Tips for Beginners: An Abbreviated
Glossary of Rhododendron Terms
Lynn Watts
Bellevue, Washington
Reprinted
from the Eugene Chapter newsletter, April/May 1998.
Some of the commonly used technical terms which are used to describe rhododendrons and companion plants:
| Acuminate | tapering to a point |
| Acute | pointed |
| Auriculate | with ear-like lobes |
| Apical | regarding the apex or tip |
| Apical bud | bud at the end of the stem |
| Apiculate | having short, sharp point |
| Axillary bud | bud between leaf and stem |
| Bigeneric | hybrid with parents in two different genera |
| Blade | extended portion of a leaf |
| Bract | a modified leaf or bud covering |
| Bristle | a slender, stiff hair, also seta |
| Bullate | puckered or quilted appearance |
| Calyx | outer basal whorl of a flower, sepal |
| Capsule | rhododendron seed pod |
| Cilia | small, hair-like bristles |
| Cordate | heart-shaped, two rounded basal lobes |
| Coriaceous | with a leathery texture |
| Decimate | curved downward |
| Deflexed | bent downwards |
| Elepidote | without scales |
| Endemic | confined to a given geographical area |
| Glabrous | smooth, without hairs |
| Glaucous | with a grayish, waxy bloom |
| Grex | all the seedlings of a given cross |
| Indumentum | fluccose covering on leaves |
| Lamina | blade of a leaf |
| Mucronate | leaf tip having a sharp point |
| Pedicel | the stem of a single flower |
| Petiole | the stem of a leaf |
| Precocious | flowering before the leaves appear |
| Rachis | the principal axis of a truss |
| Rugose | wrinkled (leaf surface) |
| Sepal | lower flower part, the calyx |
| Sessile | without a stem |
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