Plant morphology

Flowers, also known as blossoms and blooms, are the reproductive structures of flowering plants. Typically, they are structured in four circular levels around the end of a stalk. These include: sepals, which are modified leaves that support the flower; petals, often designed to attract pollinators; male stamens, where pollen is presented; and female gynoecia, where pollen is received and its movement is facilitated to the egg. When flowers are arranged in a group, they are known collectively as an inflorescence.

thumb|The diversity of leaves, including Bismarckia, [[Araucaria, Euphorbia, Nymphaea, Colocasia, Hildegardia, Picea, Melocactus, Cycas, Acer, Yucca, Ferocactus, and Ocimum.|401x401px]] thumb|Leaf of Tilia tomentosa (silver linden tree) thumb|Diagram of a simple leaf. thumb|Top and right: staghorn sumac, Rhus typhina (compound leaf) Bottom: skunk cabbage, [[Symplocarpus foetidus (simple leaf) ]]

thumb|250px|A Cytisus scoparius|broom shrub in flower thumb|250px|A rhododendron shrubbery in [[Sheringham Park]]

plant which has no persistent woody stem above ground

plant tissue outside the vascular cambium or the xylem; in older trees may be divided into dead outer bark and living inner bark, which consists of secondary phloem. external parenchymal tissue, located just below the epidermis of the stem

thumb|Colorized scanning electron microscope image of pollen grains from a variety of common plants: sunflower (Helianthus annuus), morning glory ([[Ipomoea purpurea), prairie hollyhock (Sidalcea malviflora), oriental lily (Lilium auratum), evening primrose (Oenothera fruticosa), and castor bean (Ricinus communis).]] thumb|Pollen tube diagram

thumb|upright=1.2|Ulluku (Ullucus tuberosus) tubers

thumb|Tree and plants branches of several sizes thumb|The branches of this dead Vachellia erioloba|camel thorn tree within [[Sossusvlei are clearly visible]] thumb|The branches and leaves of a tree thumb|Looking up into the branch structure of a Pinus sylvestris tree thumb|Leafless tree branches during winter A branch, also called a ramus in botany, is a stem that grows off from another stem, or when structures like veins in leaves are divided into smaller veins.

thumb|upright=1.4|In a mature flower, the perianth consists of a calyx ([[sepals) and the corolla (petals) it supports.]]

modified shoots, leaves, roots, or extensions of cortice and epidermis

thumb|right|250px|Stamens of a Hippeastrum with white filaments and prominent anthers carrying [[pollen]]

main wooden axis of a tree

thumb|Aloe hereroensis, showing inflorescence with branched pedunclethumb|Amorphophallus titanum has the world's largest unbranched inflorescence. Photo of the plant in bloom in 2000 at [[Fairchild Tropical Botanic Garden in Miami, Florida, US]]

thumb|Mixed-species tangle of lianas in tropical Australia thumb|Lianas in Udawattakele, Sri Lanka thumb|A canopy of Entada gigas that has formed over a monkey ladder vine ([[Bauhinia glabra) on Kauai, Hawaii]] thumb|Liana tangle across a forest in the Western Ghats

seed-bearing organ on gymnosperm plants

thumb|upright=1.35|European beech (Fagus sylvatica) bud In botany, a bud is an undeveloped or embryonic shoot and normally occurs in the axil of a leaf or at the tip of a stem. Once formed, a bud may remain for some time in a dormant condition, or it may form a shoot immediately. Buds may be specialized to develop flowers or short shoots or may have the potential for general shoot development. The term bud is also used in zoology, where it refers to an outgrowth from the body which can develop into a new individual.

young stem or branch

thumb|Momordica charantia (bitter melon), a climbing plant thumb|A tendril

thumb|upright=1.4|In a mature flower, the perianth consists of a calyx (sepals) and the corolla ([[petals) it supports.]]

thumb|right|Tillandsia bourgaei growing on an oak tree in Mexico

Plants having some parts that are more than normally thickened and fleshy

thumb|right|250px|Shallot bulbs thumb|right|250px|Hippeastrum (amaryllis) bulb

thumb|Cotyledon from a Judas-tree (Cercis siliquastrum, a dicot) seedling thumb|Comparison of a monocot and dicot sprouting. The visible part of the monocot plant (left) is actually the first true leaf produced from the meristem; the cotyledon itself remains within the seed.

thumb|360px|Diagram showing the alternation of generations between a diploid sporophyte (bottom) and a haploid gametophyte (top)

thumb|360px|Diagram showing the alternation of generations between a diploid sporophyte (bottom) and a haploid gametophyte (top) A sporophyte () is one of the two alternating multicellular phases in the life cycles of plants and algae. It is a diploid multicellular organism which produces asexual spores. This stage alternates with a multicellular haploid gametophyte phase.

thumb|Location of ovules inside a Helleborus foetidus flower

thumb|Detail of a male flowering catkin on a willow ([[Salix sp.)]] A catkin or ament is a slim, cylindrical flower cluster (a spike), with inconspicuous or no petals, usually wind-pollinated (anemophilous) but sometimes insect-pollinated (as in Salix). It contains many, usually unisexual flowers, arranged closely along a central stem that is often drooping. Catkins are found in many plant families, including Betulaceae, Fagaceae, Moraceae, and Salicaceae.

A xerophyte () is a species of plant that has adaptations to survive in an environment with little liquid water. Examples of xerophytes include cacti, pineapple and some gymnosperm plants. The morphology and physiology of xerophytes are adapted to conserve water during dry periods. Some species called resurrection plants can survive long periods of extreme dryness or desiccation of their tissues, during which their metabolic activity may effectively shut down. Plants with such morphological and physiological adaptations are said to be . Xerophytes such as cacti are capable of withstanding exte

Hygroscopy is the phenomenon of attracting and holding water molecules via either absorption or adsorption from the surrounding environment, which is usually at normal or room temperature. If water molecules become suspended among the substance's molecules, adsorbing substances can become physically changed, e.g. changing in volume, boiling point, viscosity or some other physical characteristic or property of the substance. For example, a finely dispersed hygroscopic powder, such as a salt, may become clumpy over time due to collection of moisture from the surrounding environment.

thumb|right|The inflorescence of a [[Phalaenopsis orchid is a typical raceme.]]

thumb|Monocot (left) and dicot (right) thumb|right|Seedling of a Scots pine thumb|Grass seedlings (150-minute time lapse)

A cuticle (), or cuticula, is any of a variety of tough but flexible, non-mineral outer coverings of an organism, or parts of an organism, that provide protection. Various types of "cuticle" are non-homologous, differing in their origin, structure, function, and chemical composition.

part of the female reproductive organ of flowers

thumb|Papery (upper) and leafy bracts on Rhinanthus minor (hay rattle). All the "leaves" in this image are bracts.

200px|thumb|Wheat seed The endosperm is a tissue produced inside the seeds of most of the flowering plants following double fertilization. It is triploid (meaning three chromosome sets per nucleus) in most species, which may be auxin-driven. It surrounds the embryo and provides nutrition in the form of starch, though it can also contain oils and protein. This can make endosperm a source of nutrition in animal diet. For example, wheat endosperm is ground into flour for bread (the rest of the grain is included as well in whole wheat flour), while barley endosperm is the main source of sugars fo

thumb|Flower of Magnolia × wieseneri|Magnolia × wieseneri showing the many pistils making up the gynoecium in the middle of the flower thumb|Hippeastrum flowers showing stamens, style and stigma thumb|right|Hippeastrum stigmas and style thumb|right|Moss plants with gynoecia, clusters of archegonia at the apex of each shoot.

thumb|300x300px|Thallus of Pellia epiphylla Thallus (: thalli), from Latinized Greek (), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. A thallus usually names the entire body of a multicellular non-moving organism in which there is no organization of the tissues into organs. Many of these organisms were previously known as the thallophytes, a polyphyletic group of distantly related organisms. An organism or structure resembling a thallus is called thalloid, thalloidal, thallif

any tree that has wide leaves

subdiscipline of botany

thumb|right|Diagram of a panicle

part of a flower. The pollen-receptive surface of a carpel or group of fused carpels, usually sticky; usually a point or small head at the summit of the style where deposited pollen germinates

circular arrangement of leaves or of structures resembling leaves

plant that produces wood as its structural tissue

In botany, an umbel is an inflorescence that consists of a number of short flower stalks (called pedicels) that spread from a common point, somewhat like umbrella ribs. The word was coined in botanical usage in the 1590s, from Latin umbella "parasol, sunshade". The arrangement can vary from being flat-topped to almost spherical. Umbels can be simple or compound. The secondary umbels of compound umbels are known as umbellules or umbellets. A small umbel is called an umbellule. The arrangement of the inflorescence in umbels is referred to as umbellate, or occasionally subumbellate (almost umbell

thumb|right|250px|Lavandula stoechas thumb|right|250px|Linnaea borealis

thumb|right|An aril that surrounds the nutmeg seed is used as a [[spice called mace]] thumb|right|The edible white aril of Litchi chinensis is sometimes called an arillode or false aril. It grows partly from the funiculus and partly from the [[integument of the seed.]]

300px|thumb|Rice chaff Chaff (; ) is dry, scale-like plant material such as the protective seed casings of cereal grains, the scale-like parts of flowers, or finely chopped straw. Chaff cannot be digested by humans, but it may be fed to livestock, ploughed into soil, or burned.

thumb|Nepenthes misoolensis|Nepenthes misoolensis growing as a lithophyte in [[Raja Ampat, New Guinea]]

cardinal organ part of lower plants that is the region at the distal end of either a peduncle or a pedicel where the floral appendages (e.g.: sepals, petals, stamens and pistils) are attached

a racemose inflorescence having many small sessile flowers borne on a fleshy stem, the whole usually being surrounded by a spathe: typical of aroid plants

thumb|Lechenaultia divaricata

thumb|300px|Leaf litter on the forest floor. Annual autumn leaf drop in [[temperate zones is caused by the abscission of the mature leaves from the growth season in response to the approach of cold winter weather.]]

right|thumb|Flower bud of a Capsicum pubescens plant, with many trichomes thumb|Fossil stellate hair (trichome) probably of an oak, in [[Baltic amber; image is about wide.]]

Anemophily or wind pollination is a form of pollination whereby pollen is distributed by wind. Almost all gymnosperms are anemophilous, as are many plants in the order Poales, including grasses, sedges, and rushes. Other common anemophilous plants are oaks, pecans, pistachios, sweet chestnuts, alders, hops, and members of the family Juglandaceae (hickory or walnut family). Approximately 12% of plants across the globe are pollinated by anemophily, including cereal crops like rice and corn and other prominent crop plants like wheat, rye, barley, and oats. In addition, many pines, spruces, and fi

thumb |275px |Crisscrossing spirals of Aloe polyphylla

right|thumb|Seedless watermelon due to Stenospermocarpy In botany and horticulture, parthenocarpy is the natural or artificially induced production of fruit without fertilisation of ovules, which makes the fruit seedless. The phenomenon has been observed since ancient times but was first scientifically described by German botanist Fritz Noll in 1902.

part of tree, above the trunk

notation representing flowers' structure