To help you with the sometimes complicated vocabulary of botany, here are some terms explained in alphabetical order (of the French terms). These words are marked with a small star (*) on the various pages of the site.
Actinomorphic : describes a flower whose floral parts are symmetrical about an axis.
Alternate : the organs of a plant are called alternate when they are attached singly and at different levels on a stem or branch. The term is generally used for leaves.
Androecium : the male part of the flower, i.e. all the stamens.
Annual : an annual plant lives for less than a year and completes its life cycle during the summer season.
Anther : the tip of the stamen, the male organ of the flower, which produces and contains the pollen.
Bract : a leaf-like floral part forming part of the inflorescence. Together, the bracts form the involucre.
Bracteole : a small bract on a flower stalk (pedicel).
Deciduous (forest) : describes a forest whose trees lose their leaves in winter.
Capsule : a dry fruit containing many seeds and opening by slits.
Cotyledon : the name given to the first leaf or first two leaves emerging from the seed.
Cyme : an inflorescence in which the central flower opens first and is overtopped by the others.
Deciduous : a synonym of caducous.
Dehiscent : opening spontaneously.
Dioecious : describes a plant whose male and female flowers are borne on separate plants.
Endemism : describes a native species that exists only in a given geographical area, i.e. a species whose range is clearly delimited and characteristic of a region.
Epiphyte : describes a plant that grows using other plants as a support. It is not a parasite, as it takes no food from its host.
Stamen : the male organ of the flower, which produces pollen.
Evapotranspiration : the process by which plants lose water in the form of vapour.
Filaments : the name given to the usually slender part that is one of the components of the stamen.
Leaflet : one of the parts of the blade of a compound leaf.
Deciduous forest : a forest made up of trees that shed their leaves.
Hygrometry : this term refers to the humidity of the air.
Inferior : describes the ovary of a flower when it is attached below the corolla and calyx.
Iridescence : a surface is iridescent when it seems to change colour depending on the angle from which it is viewed. In begonias, the leaves take on bluish reflections.
Karst : a limestone massif in which water has carved out many cavities. We speak of karst massifs or karst landscapes.
Blade (lamina) : the main part of the leaf, generally broad and flat.
Loculicidal : describes a capsule that opens by longitudinal slits, each appearing along the midline of a locule.
Mangrove : a plant formation of tropical coastal regions made up of impenetrable forests of mangrove trees.
Micro-endemism : endemism within a very small area.
Monoecious : describes a plant bearing both male and female flowers on the same plant.
Monsoon : a seasonal wind that blows from sea to land for six months and from land to sea for the other six. The first monsoon (summer monsoon) brings heavy rain, while the second (winter monsoon) brings drought.
Ombrophilous : shade-loving (literally “rain-loving”). The opposite of xerophilous.
Palmate : describes a leaf divided into lobes arranged like the fingers of a hand.
Peltate : describes a rounded leaf with the petiole attached in the middle of the blade, the blade surrounding the petiole.
Pinnate : describes a compound leaf divided into leaflets arranged on both sides of the petiole like the barbs of a feather. The term can also be used for a simple leaf whose veins are arranged in this way.
Perlite : a siliceous sand of volcanic origin, expanded by heat treatment. It comes as small white granules and is used to lighten potting mixes.
Petiole : the part that joins the leaf to the stem of the plant.
Pistil : the name given to all the female organs of the flower.
Protandrous : describes a flower whose anthers (tips of the stamens, the male organs) ripen before the stigmas (tips of the pistil, the female organs that receive the pollen), which prevents self-fertilisation.
Rootlet : a small secondary root.
Rupicolous : describes a plant that grows on rocks. A synonym of saxicolous.
Saxicolous : describes a plant growing on rocks.
Sclerophyllous : describes a plant with hard, thick leaves, well adapted to drought.
Evergreen : toujours verte.
Sepals : leaf-like parts that together form the calyx and support the corolla of the flower. The sepal protects the bud before the flower opens.
Spiniform : spine-shaped.
Stipule : a scale-like or leaf-like appendage at the base of a leaf’s petiole.
Stoloniferous : describes a plant that produces stolons, i.e. creeping stems that form new plants.
Style : the slender part extending from the ovary of the pistil. It ends in the stigma.
Suffrutescent : describes a plant that looks like a small shrub, with stems that are woody near the base and herbaceous at the tips.
Seed coat (tegument) : the outer covering of the seed.
Tepals : a term for both petals and sepals when these are not distinct.
Tropophilous : describes a plant that can be subject to sudden changes in temperature, and whose form and biological rhythm adapt to these abrupt changes.
Tuberous : describes a plant that has storage organs.
Vermiculite : a mineral substance (expanded mica) used to lighten potting mixes.
Xerophilous : describes a plant or plant community that usually grows in dry environments.
Zygomorphic : describes a flower with bilateral symmetry.
