Glossary beginning with A
A
- Abaxial
The lower part of a structure such as a leaf, i.e., that part of the structure that faces away the main axis to which the structure is attached. For example, if a leaf is pushed upward and against a stem the surface facing away from the stem is the abaxial surface.
- Adaxial
The upper part of a structure such as a leaf, i.e., that part of the structure that faces the main axis to which the structure is attached. For example, if a leaf is pushed against a stem the surface facing toward from the stem is the adaxial surface.
- Androecial hood
In zygomorphic-flowered Lecythidaceae with ligules, the distal part of the ligule that has become modified either by the outgrowth of appendices (= staminodes, vestigial stamens, or nectar-producing vestigial stamens), by an abrupt change in direction of the ligule, or by both. Androecial hoods are usuallly separated from the staminal ring by an appendage-free part of the ligule (the only known exception is Couroupita nicaraguarensis and perhaps a few species of the Lecythis sec. Pisonis group. Androecial hoods of Lecythidaceae vary according to their degree of structural complexity and the type of androecial appendages they possess.
- Androecium zygomorphic
The prolongation of one side of the staminal ring of species of all zygmorphic-flowered Lecythidaceae except in species of Cariniana.