Glossary of Botanical Terms - G

G

galbulus

(in gymnosperms) a fleshy cone (megastrobilus); chiefly relates to those borne by junipers and cypresses and often mistakenly called berries.

gamete

(in ferns, gymnosperms and angiosperms) a cell or nucleus that fuses with another of the opposite sex in sexual reproduction.

gametophyte

plant that bears gametes; in ferns, usually a small but discrete plant very different from the sporophyte (which is normally considered the fern plant); in gymnosperms and angiosperms, a microscopic structure (part of the reproductive apparatus) not recognizable as a discrete plant.

gene pool

the range of genetic variation found in a population.

genus

(plural genera) a group of one or more species with features or ancestry (or both) in common. Genus is the principal category of taxa intermediate in rank between family and species in the nomenclatural hierarchy.

generic name

the name of a genus, for example Acacia, Eucalyptus.

genotype

the genetic make-up of an individual.

germination

1. of seeds, describing the complex sequence of physiological and structural changes that occur from resting to growth stage.

2. of a pollen grain; production of a pollen tube when contacting a stigma receptive to it.

3. of a spore of fungi/bacterium; change of state – from resting to vegetative.

gibbous (gibbose)

when part of an organ is swollen; usually with a pouch-like enlargement at base.

glabrescent

becoming glabrous, almost glabrous.

glabrous

without surface ornamentation such as hairs, scales or bristles.

gland

a secretory structure within or on the surface of a plant; (loosely) a smooth, usually shining, bead-like outgrowth.

glandular hair

hairs tipped with a gland.

glaucous

with a whitish bloom, blue-green in colour; e.g. the surface of the young leaves of many eucalypts.

globose (globular)

nearly spherical.

globulose

small or nearly spherical.

glochid

a barbed hair or bristle, e.g. the fine hairs in Opuntia.

glumes

bracts subtending the floret(s) of a sedge, or similar plant; in grasses forming the lowermost organs of a spikelet (there are usually 2 but 1 is sometimes reduced; or rarely, both are absent).

glutinous

sticky.

graft

1. of a plant, the artificial union of plant parts.

2. a plant shoot suitable for grafting; loosely means a scion, sucker, or branch.

3. an old word for a spade's depth of soil.

4. a kind of spade used for digging drains.

graft chimaera (sometimes graft hybrid)

a taxon whose members consist of tissue from two or more different plants in intimate association originated by grafting. The addition sign "+" is used to indicate a graft-chimaera either as a part of a formula (e.g. Crataegus monogyna + Mespilus germanica), or in front of an abbreviated name (e.g. +Crataegomespilus 'Dardari'). The nomenclature of graft hybrids is governed by the International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants.

granular

of a surface, covered with small rounded protuberances.

grass

a plant belonging to the family Poaceae.

grassland

low vegetation dominated by grasses.

groundcover

1. of a plant, with a very flat and soil-hugging habit.

2. a term applied to describe a plant that covers the soil surface so densely that it smothers all beneath it.

Group

a formal category equivalent to or below the rank of genus. It distinguishes:

1. an assemblage of two or more cultivars within a species or hybrid.

2. plants derived from a hybrid in which one or more of the parent species is not known or is of uncertain origin.

3. a range of cultivated plants of a species or hybrid which may exhibit variation but share one or more characters, which makes it worth distinguishing them as a unit.

gymnosperm

a seed-bearing plant with ovules borne on the surface of a sporophyll; includes, among others, conifers, Ginkgo, Gnetum and cycads.

gynobasic

of a style, arising near the base of the gynoecium, e.g. between the lobes of the ovary.

gynoecium

female parts of flower; the collective term for the carpels of a flower whether united or free; cf. pistil; androecium.

gynophore

stalk supporting the gynoecium (above the level of insertion of the other floral parts).