Plant Guides and Glossaries (Cloudbridge Nature Reserve in Costa Rica)

Term	Definition	La palabra	La definición
acorn	The hard-shelled, one-seeded fruit of the oaks (Quercus) which consists of a nut which is partly enclosed by the cupule, or cap.
acuminate	Slenderly tapered with an angle of less than 45º; longer than acute; convex	acuminado	terminando en una punta
alternate	Of leaves or other lateral organs, borne singly at different heights on the axis; of floral parts, on a different radius, e.g. describing the position of stamens with respect to petals.
anther	The pollen-bearing part of a stamen
apex	The top or tip of a leaf or other structure.
apical cell	A single meristematic cell at the apex of a shoot, thallus, leaf or other organ that divides repeatedly to form new cells	célula apical	única célula meristemática en el ápice de un vástago, talo, hoja u otro órgano, que se divide sucesivamente para formar nuevas células
appressed	Closely applied, as leaves lying close or flat against the stem	adpreso	muy aplicado, como las hojas que yacen muy próximas o planas contra el tallo
axil	The upper angle formed by the axis and any organ that arises from it; e.g. leaf and stem, stem and branch	axila	muy aplicado, como las hojas que yacen muy próximas o planas contra el tallo
axillary	In the leaf axils	axilar	en las axilas de las hojas
Bark	The outer covering of the trunks or branches of trees and shrubs.
basal	At the base, bottom or proximal end (opposed to terminal or distal)	basal	en la base, parte inferior o extremo proximal (opuesto a terminal o distal)
Base of leaf
bifoliate	Having two leaves- pertains to plants
bifoliolate	Having two leaflets - pertains to leaves
bifurcate	Y-shaped or forked; leaves divided into two more or less equal parts	bifurcado	en forma de horquilla o Y; hojas divididas en dos partes + iguales
bilobed	divided into two lobes or segments	bilobado	dividido + equitativamente en dos lóbulos o segmentos
bipinnate	with both primary and secondary stems pinnate; twice-pinnately branched	bipinnado	con ambos tallos primarios y secundarios pinnados; ramas dos veces pinnadas
Bract	a modified leaf ;a leaf-like structure associated with flowers and fruits.	bráctea	hoja modificada asociada con el gametangio o el receptáculo propagulífero (cf. hoja periquecial, hoja perigonial)
Bud	The rudimentary state of a stem or branch; an unexpanded flower.
Catkins	A cluster of flowers that forms a long, skinny, caterpillar-like shape is called a "catkin". Catkins are typical of aspens, willows, oaks, birches, butternuts, and walnuts.
compound leaves	A single leaf with numerous leaflets. A leaf begins where the leaf stem connects to the wood tissue of the twig. Sometimes, the leaf stem supports these leaflets that look like individuals leaves but the leaf stem is not woody. Double-compound is when each leaflet is also made up of secondary leaflets.
Cone	in gymnosperms and club-mosses, a group of sporophylls arranged compactly on a central axis; (loosely) in Casuarinaceae, a woody multiple fruit incorporating the bracts and bracteoles associated with the flowers; (loosely) in Petrophile and other Proteaceae the semi-woody multiple fruit made up of nutlets in the axils of closely imbricate floral bracts which become woody.
Cordate	heart-shaped (in the traditional playing-card sense); leaf shape with the large, rounded ends at the base or point of attachmen	cordado	acorazonado (en el sentido tradicional de las barajas); forma de hoja con los extremos basales grandes y redondeados; ej. Calliergon; (ver también auriculado)
Costulate
costule	the midvein of a pinnule
crenate	with rounded teeth	crenado	que tiene dientes redondeados (ver crenulado)
cuneate	wedge-shaped; e.g., the wedge-shaped apical cell of hornworts and some thalloid liverworts (cf. tetrahedral, dolabrate)	cuneado	en forma de cuña; ej. la célula apical en forma de cuña de las Anthocerotales y algunas hepáticas talosas (cf. tetraédrico, dolabriforme)
cupulate	cup-shaped, rounded and swollen	cupulado	en forma de copa, redondeado e hinchado; ej. la cápsula abierta de Physcomitrium, Phasconica (ver ciatiforme)
Cupule	a small cup.
Cyme	an inflorescence in which each flower, in turn, is formed at the tip of a growing axis and further flowers are formed on branches arising below it.
Cymose	adjective of cyme
Deciduous	falling off	deciduo	que se desprende o cae, ej. desprendimiento del opérculo (ver caduco, fugaz)
Dentate	with sharp teeth directed outward	dentado	con dientes agudos dirigidos hacia afuera (ver denticulado)
dioecian, dioecious	having male and female reproductive organs in separate plants or animals
Domatia	modified sheltering projections	domacio	parte modificada que cobija otro organismo; ej. las aurículas con Nostoc en Blasia
drip point or drip tip	A leaf tip with an extension--acuminate, caudate, aristate--from which water drips during wet conditions. 2. A long drooping tip on leaves, particularly those of rain forest trees.
Ellipsoid	an oval solid	elipsoidal	cuerpo cuyas secciones a través de su eje mayor conforman elipses
Epiphyte	a plant growing on another plant	epifito	planta que crece sobre otra
Exudate	Matter oozing from a surface
Filamentous	thread-like	filamentoso	como una hebra
Fissured	Having deep cracks
Glabrous	smooth; not papillose, rough or hairy	glabro	liso, no papiloso, rugoso o tomentoso (ver desnudo)
Glands	a structure, within or on the surface of a plant, with a secretory function
Glaucous	with a whitish, greyish, or bluish overcast, hue or color	glauco	de color verde claro con matiz ligeramente grisáceo o azulado
Globose	spherical	globoso	esférico
hastate	spear-shaped; abruptly broadened and auriculate at base	hastado	de forma de lanza; abruptamente ensanchado y auriculado en la base
Hemiepiphyte
Herb	any vascular plant that never produces a woody stem
incised	cut into sharp divisions separated by narrow sinuses	inciso	cortado en divisiones agudas separadas por senos estrechos
Indument	the epidermal appendages, e.g. hairs or scales, collectively
Inflorescence	the group or arrangement in which flowers are borne on a plant	inflorescencia	ver gametoceo:gametangio y brácteas circundantes (ver androecio, arquegonio y ginoecio)
Involucre	a protective sheath of tissue	involucro	una envoltura protectora que rodea a un anteridio único (ej. algunas Sphaerocarpales), arquegonio o esporofito (ej. Marchantiaceae y Anthocerotophyta); a menudo usado como un término general, para cualquier estructura envainante que rodea el esporofito o los gametangios; término arcaico para las hojas periqueciales y perigoniales (cf. pseudoperiantio)
Lamina	the flattened, generally unistratose and green part of the leaf blade	lámina	la parte aplanada de la hoja, generalmente monoestratificada y verde, excluyendo el nervio y el borde; la parte expandida de un talo. (ver lámina apical, dorsal y vaginante)
Lanceolate	lance-shaped, narrowly elliptical and tapering equally to both ends	lanceolado	forma de lanza, en briología estrecho y adelgazándose desde cerca de la base; estrechamente oval- acuminado (usado además para elementos estrechamente elípticos y adelgazados por igual en ambos extremos)
Laterals	at the side; e.g., lateral branches or thallus wings (cf. basal and terminal)	lateral	al costado, al flanco; ej. ramas laterales o alas del talo (cf. basal y terminal)
Latex	a viscous fluid exuded from the cut surfaces of the leaves and stems of certain plants.
Leaf	a photosynthetic outgrowth from the stem	hoja	una expansión fotosintética desde el tallo; en briofitas generalmente consistente en una lámina uniestratificada con o sin nervio multiestratificado
Leaf base
Leaf tip	The apex.
Lenticel	a loosely-packed mass of cells in the bark of a woody plant, visible on the surface of a stem as a raised powdery spot, through which gaseous exchange occurs.
Liana	a climbing or twining plant (usually applied to woody climbers).
Linear	very narrow, elongate with nearly parallel sides; narrower than ligulate	linear	muy estrecho, alargado con los bordes casi paralelos; mas estrecho que ligulado
Lobed	any segment of a divided (lobed) leaf or other organ; the larger segment of an unequally divided leaf in leafy liverworts	lobo	cualquier segmento de una hoja dividida (lobada) u otro órgano; el segmento mas grande una hoja desigualmente dividida en las hepáticas foliosas (ver lóbulo)
Margin	The border of a leaf	Margen	La orilla de una hoja
monoecious or	having male and female reproductive organs in the same plant or animal
monoicous	bisexual; with antheridia and archegonia on the same plant, including autoicous, synoicous, paroicous, and polyoicous (opposed to dioicous; monoecious, see note after autoicous)
Oblanceolate	Lanceolate with the broadest part toward the apex.
oblique	slanted; e.g., an oblique leaf insertion is one that is between transverse and longitudinal	oblícuo	inclinado, sesgado; ej. inserción oblícua de la hoja es aquella entre transversal y longitudinal
Oblong	rectangular with rounded corners or ends	oblongo	rectangular con los ángulos o terminaciones redondeados
Obovoid	an inversely ovoid solid	obovoide	un ovoide invertido
opposite	of leaves or other lateral organs, borne at the same level but on opposite sides of the stem; of floral parts, on the same radius.
Orbicular	nearly circular	orbicular	casi circular
Ovary	the basal portion of a carpel or group of fused carpels, enclosing the ovule(s
Ovoid	an egg-shaped solid	ovoide	sólido en forma de huevo
Palmate	with finger-like lobes radiating from center	palmeado	lóbulos radiados desde el centro como los dedos de la mano
Paniculate	indeterminate and much branched
papilla	cell ornamentation, a solid microscopic protuberance	papila	ornamentación celular, una protubeancia microscópica sólida (ver papiloso, papilas mucilaginíferas)
Papillose	bearing papillae; monopapillose -- bearing one simple unbranched papilla on the cell surface; multipapillose -- bearing several papillae, or one compound or branched papilla on the cell surface;Loosely applied to any minutely rough surface, that may be strictly mammillose; e.g., pottioid leaves	papiloso	levando papilas; monopapiloso -- con una sola papila no ramificada en la superficie de la célula; pluripapiloso -- con varias papilas, o una papila compuesta o ramificada en la superficie de la célula (ver papilas en forma de C). Libremente aplicado a una superficie finamente áspera; ej. hojas pottioides
Peduncles	the stalk of an inflorescence; in ferns, the stalk of a sporocarp
Petal	a member of the inner whorl of non-fertile parts surrounding the fertile organs of a flower, usually soft and coloured conspicuously
Petiole	the stalk of a leaf.
Phenology	The science of the relations between climate and periodic biological phenomena, e.g., the fruiting of plants or the color change of leaves.
phenotype	the physical characteristics of an organism; the outward expression of characteristics conferred on an organism by its genotype
Pinnate	with numerous, spreading branches on opposite sides of the axis and thus resembling a feather	pinnado	con numerosas ramas divergentes en lados opuestos del eje y de esta forma semejando una pluma
Pistil	a free carpel or a group of fused carpels.
Pistillode	a sterile pistil, often rudimentary
Plated
pod	a leguminous fruit
Pollen	the microspores of seed plants; the powdery mass of microspores shed from anthers.
Pubescent	covered with short, soft, erect hairs
Raceme	an indeterminate inflorescence in which a main axis produces a series of flowers on lateral stalks, the oldest at the base and the youngest at the top. adj. racemose. cf. cyme
Racemose
Rachis	he axis of an inflorescence or a pinnate leaf; pl. rachises. secondary rachis: the axis of a pinna in a bipinnate leaf, or of a branch in a branched inflorescence.
Reniform	kidney-shaped	reniforme	forma de riñón
Reticulation	netted, as the network pattern produced by cell wall thickenings	reticulado	en red, a modo de malla producida por los engrosamientos de la pared celular
Root	unit of the axial system of a plant which is usually underground, does not bear leaves, tends to grow downwards and is typically derived from the radicle of the embryo. cf. adventitious.
sagittate	shaped like an arrow-head	sinuado	ondulado, como en un margen foliar o en el engrosamiento intracelular de las paredes en Racomitrium (ver noduloso)
seedpod	Any dry, several-seeded and dehiscent fruit.
Sepal	a member of the (usually green) outer whorl of non-fertile parts surrounding the fertile organs of a flower.
Serrate	saw-toothed; with marginal teeth pointing forward (towards apex)	serrado	dentado como sierra, con dientes marginales hacia adelante (hacia el ápice)
Shreddy
Shrub	a woody plant less than 5 metres high, either without a distinct main axis, or with branches persisting on the main axis almost to its base.
sinuate	wavy, as in leaf margin	sinuado
Spathe	a large bract ensheathing an inflorescence
spathulate	tapering proximally from a broad, rounded apex	espatulado	adelgazándose proximalmente a partir de un ápice amplio y redondeado
Spatulate/spathulate?	tapering proximally from a broad, rounded apex	espatulado
Spore	a reproductive unit	espora	unidad de reproducción que se produce en la cápsula por meiosis; usualmente cuerpo unicelular pequeño y esférico, que durante la germinación da origen a un protonema
Stalk
Stamen	one of the male organs of a flower, consisting typically of a stalk (filament) and a pollen-bearing portion (anther).
Staminodes	a sterile stamen, often rudimentary, sometimes modified
Stem	the main axis or a branch of the main axial system of a plant, developed from the plumule of the embryo and typically bearing leaves	tallito, tallo	eje principal del gametofito (caulidio) de los musgos y hepáticas foliosas; crece por medio de una sola célula apical ; diminutivo de tallo
Stigma	the pollen-receptive surface of a carpel or group of fused carpels, usually sticky
Stipule	one of a pair of appendages at the bases of leaves in many dicotyledons	estípula	término arcaico para anfigastrio
Style of flower	an elongated part of a carpel, or group of fused carpels, between the ovary and the stigma
Tepals	a perianth segment in a flower in which all the perianth segments are similar in appearance

ternate	in groups of three; of leaves, arranged in whorls of three; of a single leaf, having the leaflets arranged in groups of three
Trifoliate	having three leaves
trifoliolate	of a leaf, having three leaflets
truncate	abruptly cut off or squared off at the apex	truncado	abruptamente cortado en el ápice
Trunk	The major woody stem of a tree.
Twig	The end subdivision of a branch; a young shoot, generally applied to the growth of the past season.
Umbel	a racemose inflorescence in which all the individual flower stalks arise in a cluster at the top of the peduncle and are of about equal length
Understory	The shrubs and smaller trees between the forest canopy and the ground cover.
undulate	wavy	ondulado	ondeado
Vein of leaf	a strand of vascular tissue
Venation	the arrangement of veins in a leaf
Verticillate	whorled	verticilado	dispuesto en un anillo o círculo
Vine
Whorled	arranged in a ring or circle	verticilado	dispuesto en un anillo o círculo

Compiled by Genevieve Giddy from various sources

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Glossary