Australian Biological Resources Study
Compiled by A.McCusker
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valvate: of perianth parts, meeting edge to edge in the bud, not overlapping. cf. imbricate. > image <
valve: a portion of an organ that has fragmented; of a capsule, the teeth-like portions into which the dehiscing part of the pericarp splits at maturity.
vascular: specialised for conduction of fluids; vascular plants: plants containing specialised conducting tissues.
vein: a strand of vascular tissue.
velamen: a water-retaining outer layer of the aerial roots of some epiphytes, especially orchids.
velum: a membranous covering; a veil.
venation: the arrangement of veins in a leaf. > image <
ventral: of a lateral organ, facing towards the subtending axis; of a thallus, facing towards the substratum. cf. dorsal.
vernation: the arrangement of unexpanded leaves in a bud. cf. aestivation.
vernicose: varnished.
verrucose: covered with wart-like outgrowths, warted.
verruculose: covered with closely spaced, minute wart-like outgrowths.
versatile: of anthers, swinging freely about the point of attachment to the filament, which is approximately central. cf. basifixed, medifixed. > image <
verticil: a whorl or circular arrangement of similar parts around an axis.
verticillaster: a false whorl of opposed cymes. > image <
verticillate: arranged in one or more whorls; a false whorl of flowers in a pair of opposite dense cymes, especially in Lamiaceae. > image <
vesicle: a bladder-like sac or cavity filled with gas or liquid.
vessel: a capillary tube formed from a series of open-ended cells in the water-conducting tissue of a plant.
vestigial: reduced from the ancestral condition and no longer functional. cf. obsolete, rudimentary.
vexillum: = standard.
villous: shaggy with long, weak hairs. cf. hirsute.
viscid: of a surface, sticky; coated with a thick, syrupy secretion.
viscidium: in Orchidaceae, a viscid part of the rostellum which is clearly defined and removed with the pollinia as a unit, serving to attach the pollinia to an insect or other pollination vector.
viscous: of a liquid, not pouring freely; having the consistency of syrup or honey.
viviparous: of seeds or fruits, germinating before being shed from the parent plant.