The Thymus Information Page




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North Africa, Ethiopia and the Canary Islands

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Glossary

 


 

acuminate

The shape of a tip or base of a leaf where the part tapers gradually and often in a concave manner to a point.acute
Terminating with a sharp or well defined angle.


adaxial

Facing toward the axis, as the upper surface of a leaf.


axil

The angle formed by a leaf or branch with the stem.


axillary

Situated in an axil.


bract

A more or less modified leaf subtending a flower or belonging to an inflorescence. In section Pseudothymbra the bracts are larger and noticably different from the leaves.bracteole
A secondary bract, as one upon the pedical of a flower.


calyx

The outer part (perianth) of the flower, usually green, formed of several divisions called sepals, protecting the bud. In thymes it’s the bit the flower comes out of.capitate (syn. capitiform, alt. capitose) Shaped like a head; collected into a head or dense cluster.cilium (pl. cilia) A short, usually stiff, usually unicellular, marginal hair which in thymes may sometimes be found on the leaves and/or calyx teeth.ciliate
Marginally fringed with hairs (cilia).


corolla

The petals of a flower; the inner perianth, of distinct or connate petals. In thymes the petals are fused to form a tube. crenate
Dentate with the teeth much rounded.


decumbent

Reclining with the tips ascending; a plant that has its base lying on the ground and a stem that grows upward.dentate
Toothed, usually with the teeth directed outward.


elliptic

Narrow at the ends and broad near the center.


elliptic-lanceolate

Between elliptic and lanceolate.


emarginate

Having a shallow notch at the extremity.


exserted

Projecting beyond an envelope, as stamens from a corolla.


glabrous

Smooth; not rough, pubescent, or hairy. 


glabrate

Somewhat glabrous, or becoming glabrous. 


glabrescent:

Becoming glabrous in age.


gland

A secreting surface or structure; any protuberance or appendage having the appearance of such an organ.gland-dot
A tiny gland or pore, usually secreting fluid.


glandular hairs

Hairs bearing glands.


incurved

Bent or curved inwards or upwards, as leaf margins curved towards the adaxial surface.indumentum
A massing of fine hairs, glands, or prickles.


inflorescence

The flowering part of a plant, and especially the mode of its arrangement.


lanceolate

Shaped like a lance-head, several times longer than wide, broadest above the base and narrowed to the apex.lax
Loose; so weak as to be scarcely self-supporting.


linear

Long and narrow, with parallel margins.


linear-lanceolate

Between linear and lanceolate.


nerve

A simple or unbranched vein or slender rib.


obovate

Inverted ovate; egg-shaped, with the broadest part above.


obtuse

Blunt or rounded at the end.


ovate

Egg-shaped, with the broader end at the base.


pedicel

A tiny stalk; the support of a single flower.


pedicillate

Borne on a pedicel.


petiolate

Having a petiole, the stalk of a leaf that attaches it to the stem.


procumbent

Lying on the ground or trailing but without rooting at the nodes.


recurved

Curved downward or backward.


retrorse

Directed back or downward.


revolute

Rolled backward at the margins or apex.


spatulate (alt. spathulate):

Gradually narrowing downward from a rounded summit; spoon-shaped.


spheroidal

Spherical/rounded.


stamen

One of the male, pollen-bearing organs of the flower.


spiciform

Spike-like.


subpetiolate

Having a very short petiole.


tomentose

Covered with thick felt of closely matted woolly hairs.


vertillaster 

A form of inflorescence in which the flowers are arranged in an apparent whorl, consisting of a pair of opposite axillary, usually sessile, cymes or clusters, as in many of the Mint family, Labiatae.whorl
An arrangement of leaves, petals, sepals, etc., in a circle round the stem.