Pachycauly.   Short, thick, frequently succulent stems, as in


Painted.   Colors disposed in streaks of unequal intensity


Palate.   The raised area in the throat of a sympetalous corolla


Palea.   Inner scale subtending grass floret


Paleaceous.   With small membranous scales, chaffy


Palinactinodromous.   Actinodromous, the primary veins with one or more subsidiary radiations above the primary one


Palmate.   Radiately lobed or divided. Palmately Compound - With leaflets from one point at end of petiole


Palmate-pinnate.   With first order leaflets palmately arranged, second order pinnately arranged


Palmatifid.   Cut palmately


Palmatisect.   Sectioned or divided palmately into distinct segments


Panduriform.   Fiddle-shaped; obovate with sinus or indentation on each side near base and with two small basal lobes


Panicle.   Branched inflorescence with pedicelled flowers


Pannose or Felted.   With matted, feltlike layer of trichomes


Papilionaceous.   With large posterior petal (banner or standard) two lateral petals (wings) and usually two connate lower petals (keel); as in the Fabaceae


Papillose.   Covered with minute tubercles


Pappus.   Bristly or scaly calyx in the Asteraceae


Parallel.   Thecae or anther cells along side of the connective or longitudinal to each other; with veins extending from base to apex, essentially parallel


Parallelodromous.   With two or more primary veins originating beside one another at the blade base and running more or less parallel to the apex where they converge


Paraphyses.   Hairs or hair-like structures in the sorus


Parietal.   With the placentae on the wall or intruding partitions of a unilocular compound ovary


Paripinnately Compound.   Even-pinnately compound, without a terminal leaflet


Parted.   Indentations or incisions cut 1/2-3/4 distance to midrib


Patelliform.   Knee-shaped; disk-shaped


Patent.   Spreading


Pectinate.   Pinnatifid with closely set segments; comb-like


Pedate.   Palmately cut or divided with the lower pair basiscopically exaggerated


Pedicel.   Individual flower stalk


Peduncle.   Main stalk for entire inflorescence


Peg (sterigmata).   Lateral stem projection to which leaf is attached and persistent after leaf dehiscence; ie., abscission layer between peg and leaf; leaf may be sessile; e.g., Picea; or petiolate; e.g. Tsuga, on the peg


Pellucid.   Clear, transparent


Peltate.   Usually having petiole attached near the center on the underside of blade


Peltiform.   Rounded with petiole attached to center of blade or apparently to laminar tissue


Pendent.   Drooping, hanging down; pendulous


Pendulous.   Hanging loosely or freely; pendent


Penni-parallel.   With veins extending from midrib to margins, essentially parallel


Pentacyclic.   Five-whorled


Pentagonal.   Five-angled


Pentamerous.   Whorl with five members


Pentandrous.   With five stamens


Pepo.   A berry with a leathery nonseptate rind derived from an inferior ovary, as in Cucurbita


Perennial, Polycarpic.   Living more than two years; fruiting more than once


Perfect or Bisexual.   With both stamens and carpels or pistils in the flower


Perfoliate.   Having base completely surrounding stem


Perianth.   An aggregation of tepals or combined calyx and corolla


Pericarp.   Fruit wall


Pericarpous.   Around the fruit


Pericladial.   With a sheathing base, as in the Apiaceae


Perigynium.   Sac-like bract subtending the pistillate flower, as in Carex


Perigyny.   The condition in which the sepals, petals, stamens are attached to the floral tube or hypanthium surrounding the ovary with the tube or hypanthium free from the ovary


Peripheral.   On the outer surface or edge


Perisperm.   Food reserve in seed derived from diploid nucellus or integuments


Perispermous.   With food reserve in perisperm, derived from diploid nucellus or integuments


Perispore or Perine.   An outer covering of some fern spores, with different configuration than that of the exospore


Persistent.   Remaining attached; applied to individual parts


Personate.   Two-lipped with the upper arched and the lower protruding into corolla throat


Petal.   A corolla member or segment; a unit of the corolla


Petalantherous.   With a terminal anther and distinctly petaloid filament, as in Saxifraga


Petaliferous.   Most frequently at the base of petals


Petaloid.   Petal-like in shape, texture and/or color


Petalostemonous.   With filaments fused to corolla, anthers free


Petiolar.   May be all over (general) or near apex (acropetiolar) or near base (basipetiolar)


Petiolate.   With a petiole


Petiole.   Leaf stalk


Petiolulate.   With a petiolule


Petiolule.   Leaflet stalk


Petrorhizous.   With roots on rock


Phalaenophily.   Pollinated by moths


Phanerantherous.   With stamens exserted


Phanerocotylar or Epigeous.   With the cotyledons emergent from seed, usually appearing above ground


Photosynthetic.   Blade-like and green


Phyllary.   One of the involucral leaves subtending a capitulum, as in composites


Phyllodial.   Flattened and blade-like


Phyllodium.   Flattened blade-like petiole or midrib


Phyllopodic.   With blade-bearing leaves at base of plant


Phyllotaxis.   Arrangement of leaves, primarily photosynthetic in function


Piliferous.   More than 20:1 l/w, hair-like, flexuous


Pilose.   With soft, shaggy trichomes


Pinna.   A primary division of a fern leaf


Pinnate.   Compound, with the leaflets arranged on both sides of a common axis. Interruptedly Pinnately Compound - With smaller and larger leaflets alternating along the rachis


Pinnate-pinnatifid.   Pinnate with pinnatifid pinnae


Pinnatifid.   Pinnately cut, more than half way to the midvein


Pinnatisect.   Sectioned or divided pinnately into distinct segments


Pinnule.   A secondary division of a fern leaf


Pisiform.   Pea-shaped


Pistil.   One or more fused carpels consisting of stigma, style (if present) and ovary


Pistillate, Carpellate, or Female.   With pistils or carpels only in the flower


Pitcher.   Ventricose to tubular insectivorous leaf, as in Sarracenia


Pith.   Centermost tissue of stem, usually soft


Placenta.   Ovule-bearing region of ovary wall


Planate or Plain.   With lamina flat, without folds or rolls


Platycanthous.   With flat and usually large spines


Plectostele.   A protostele dissected into anastomosing plate-like units


Pleiochasium.   Compound dichasium in which each cymule has three lateral branches


Pleiomerous.   With increase in number of members within whorl


Pleiotaxy.   Increase in number of whorls


Pleomorphic.   Actinomorphic with numbers of parts reduced; e.g., Tripogandra


Pleurogamy.   Pollen tube entrance through side of ovule


Pleurotropous.   Dorsal - Ovule horizontal, micropyle toward ventral bundle, raphe above. Ventral - Ovule horizontal, micropyle toward ventral bundle, raphe below


Plicate or Plaited.   Fluted, longitudinally folded


Pliestesial or Multiperennial.   Monocarpic but living several to many years before flowering, as in Agave


Plumose.   Feather-like


Plumule.   Embryonic leaves in seed derived from epicotyl


Pneumatophorous.   With spongy, aerating roots, usually found in marsh plants


Pollen Grain.   Young male gametophyte. Pollen Sac - Male sporangium


Pollinia.   Grains occurring in uniform coherent masses


Polyad.   Pollen grains in clusters of more than four


Polyandrous.   Many-stamened


Polyanthous.   Having different states in several to many (more than three) different sets of flowers, only one state present in each set


Polycarpellate.   Many-carpellate


Polycephalous.   Many-headed, as in composites


Polycyclic.   Many-whorled


Polydelphous.   With several groups of stamens connate by their filaments


Polygamo-dioecious.   Plants dioecious, but with some perfect flowers on staminate or pistillate plants or both


Polygamo-monoecious.   Plant monoecious, but with some perfect flowers


Polygamous.   Plant with perfect and imperfect flowers


Polyheterophytous.   Having different states in several to many (more than three) different individuals or sets of plants, only one state present in each set


Polymerous.   Whorl with many members


Polymorphic.   Having several to many (more than three) different shapes and/or sizes within the same species


Polyphore.   A receptacle or torus bearing many distinct carpels, as in Rosa


Polystichous.   Leaves or other structures in many rows


Pome (Receptacle and Hypanthium).   A berry-like fruit, adnate to a fleshy receptacle, with cartilaginous endocarp, as in Malus


Poricidal.   Dehiscing through a pore at apex of theca


Porogamy.   Pollen tube entrance through the micropyle


Posterior.   Lobe - The lobe next to axis, away from the subtending bract; adaxial lobe. Posterior Ridges, Lines, Grooves - The lines, grooves, ridges in or on the ventral side, adaxial, within the perianth


Pouch or Sac.   A bag-shaped structure


Precocious.   Developing unusually early


Preformed Shoots.   Normal shoots that develop from winter buds which contain primordia of all leaves that will expand during the season


Prickle.   A sharp pointed outgrowth from the epidermis or cortex of any organ


Prickly.   With prickles


Primary.   From radicle of embryo; tip of main axis


Primocane.   The first year non-flowering stem, as in most blackberries; a turion


Primordium.   Cells in embryo or bud giving rise to roots, leaves or flowers. Protected Primordium - Shoot and/or flower primordia surrounded by scales. Naked Primordium - Shoot and/or flower primordia not surrounded by scales


Proanthesis.   Flowering before normal period, as spring flowers in the fall


Procumbent, Prostrate, or Reclining.   Trailing or lying flat, not rooting at the nodes; humistrate


Proleptic Shoots.   Abnormal late season shoots that develop from the lateral buds immediately beneath the terminal


Promeristem.   Apical growing or meristematic tissue that gives rise to other bud parts


Prop or Stilt.   Adventitious, supporting roots usually arising at lower nodes


Prostrate.   Flat, spreading; growing low along the ground


Protandrous.   With stamens or anthers developing before carpels or stigma


Protantherous.   With leaves appearing before flowers


Prothallus.   Gametophyte of lower vascular plants


Protogynous.   With carpels or stigma maturing before stamens or anthers


Protostele.   Stele having a solid column of vascular tissue with xylem centrally located


Proximal.   Near the point of origin or attachment


Pruinose, Frosted, or Sebiferous.   With a heavy wax coat


Pseudanthium.   Several flowers simulating a simple flower but composed of more than a single axis with subsidiary flowers


Pseudocarp (Receptacle).   An aggregation of achenes embedded in a fleshy receptacle, as in Fragaria


Pseudodrupe (Involucre).   Two-four loculed nut surrounded by a fleshy involucre, as in Juglans


Pseudomonomerous.   Whorl seemingly with one member which is a fusion product of two or more parts


Pseudo-terminal.   Bud appearing apical but is lateral near apex, developing with death or nondevelopment of terminal bud


Psychophily.   Pollinated by butterflies


Pterocauly.   Winged stems


Puberulent.   Minutely pubescent


Pubescent.   Covered with dense or scattered trichomes


Pulverulent.   Covered with fine, powdery wax granules


Pulvinal.   With a swollen base, as in the Fabaceae


Pulvinus.   The swollen base of a petiole or petiolule


Punctate.   Covered with minute impressions or depressions


Pungent.   Acrid; terminating in a rigid sharp point


Purcate.   Forked


Pustulate.   With scattered blisterlike swellings


Pyrene.   Fleshy fruit with each seed surrounded by a bony endocarp, as in Ilex


Pyriform.   Pear-shaped