Glossary of Botanical Terms - W

W

warty

a surface covered with small round protuberances, especially in fruit, leaves, twigs and bark, see tuberculate.

watershoot

an erect strong-growing or epicormic shoot developing from near the base of a shrub or tree, but distinct from a sucker.

weed

loosely defined as a plant growing where it is not wanted; commonly associated with disrupted habitats

1. agricultural weed: a plant which taints produce or pollutes crops.

2. environmental weed: naturalised, exotic or ecologically 'out-of-balance' indigenous species outside the agricultural or garden context which, as a result of invasion, adversely affects the survival or regeneration of indigenous species in natural or partly natural vegetation communities (Carr, G.W., in Foreman & Walsh, 1993).

wild

originating from a known wild habitat (wilderness). See Wildlife.

whorl

a ring of organs borne at the same level on an axis, for example leaves, bracts or floral parts.

wing

1. a membranous expansion of a fruit or seed which aids in dispersal, for instance on pine seeds.

2. a thin flange of tissue extending beyond the normal outline of a structure, e.g. on the column of some orchids, on stems, on petioles.

3. one of the two lateral petals of a flower of subfamily Faboideae of family Fabaceae, located between the adaxial standard (banner) petal and the two abaxial keel petals.

woolly

very densely covered with long, more or less matted or intertwined hairs, resembling sheep's wool.