Australian Biological Resources Study
Compiled by A.McCusker
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baccate: berry-like; of seeds, having a succulent or pulpy testa; of fruits, having the seeds embedded in pulp.
barbed trichome: a trichome with terminal or lateral retrorse projections, each projection being a barb. > image <
barbellae: short, straight, stiff hairs or barbs.
barbulae: in Scaevola (Goodeniaceae), outgrowths on the margin of the wings or in the throat of the corolla, sometimes with apical hairs or papillae.
basal: at the base; of a placenta, at the base of the ovary. > image | image | image | image <
basifixed: attached at or by the base, e.g. of anthers, by the base of the connective. cf. medifixed, versatile. > image <
basipetal: developing, in sequence, from the apex towards the base. cf. acropetal.
basiscopic: facing towards the base. cf. acroscopic.
basitonic: of flowering seasonal growth units (seasonal shoots), producing no leaves (but sometimes some bracts) below the inflorescence, cf. acrotonic.
beak: a prominent terminal projection, especially of a carpel or fruit. > image <
berry: a fleshy or pulpy indehiscent fruit with the seed(s) embedded in the fleshy tissue of the pericarp. cf. drupe, pyrene.
biennial: a plant whose life span extends for more than one but less than two years after germination. cf. annual, perennial.
bifacial: of leaves, flat or channelled with distinct adaxial and abaxial surfaces. cf. unifacial.
bifid: divided, for about half the length, into two parts. cf. bipartite. > image <
bifoliate: of plants, having two leaves.
bifoliolate: of leaves, having two leaflets. > image <
bigeminate: in two pairs; of pinnate leaves, having only two pairs of pinnae.
bilabiate: two-lipped, e.g. of a corolla in which fusion of an anterior group and a posterior group of petals extends beyond the top of the corolla tube.
bilamellate: consisting of two plates or lamellae.
bilocular: having two cavities.
bipartite: divided, nearly to the base, into two parts. cf. bifid.
bipinnate: of leaves, twice pinnately divided. cf. pinnate, tripinnate. > image | image <
biseriate: arranged in two rows or whorls.
bisexual (= hermaphrodite): bearing both male and female organs together, e.g. on the same gametophyte or in the same flower. > image <
biternate: twice ternate, the three pinnae each divided into three pinnules.
blade: the expanded part of a leaf or petal. cf. lamina, limb.
bole: the trunk of a tree, below the lowest branch. cf. canopy.
brachyblast: a short branch; a spur shoot.
bract: a leaf-like structure, different in form from the foliage leaves and without an axillary bud, associated with an inflorescence or flower. > image <
bracteole: a small bract-like structure borne singly or in pairs on the pedicel or calyx of a flower. > image <
bristle: a rigid trichome similar to a pig's bristle.
brochidodromous: of leaves, pinnate venation in which the secondary veins do not terminate at the margins but are joined in a series of prominent arches. cf. acrodromous, eucamptodromous, semicraspedodromous.
bulb: a storage organ, usually underground, made up of a stem and leaf bases, the food reserves being stored in the inner, fleshy leaf bases. > image <
bulbel (= bulblet): a bulb arising from another bulb.
bulbil: a small, deciduous bulb (or tuber) formed in the axil of a leaf or replacing flowers in an inflorescence, and functioning to propagate the plant vegetatively. > image <
bullate: having a blistered or puckered surface; of a leaf surface, prominently raised (like a bubble) between veins.
burr: a rough or prickly propagule consisting of a seed or fruit and associated floral parts or bracts.
buttress: a vertical flange of tissue protruding from the base of the main trunk of a tree.