Australian Biological Resources Study
Compiled by A.McCusker
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acicle: a slender, stiff, needle-like prickle. adj. acicular.
cuneate: wedge-shaped. elliptic: oval in outline, widest at the centre. filiform: thread-like. flabellate (= flabelliform): fan-shaped. lanceolate: of a leaf, about four times as long as it is broad, broadest in the lower half and tapering towards the tip. linear: very narrow in relation to the length, and with the sides parallel. cf. lorate. oblong: a two-dimensional shape, having the length greater than the width but not many times greater, and the sides parallel. obovate: similar in shape to ovate but attached at the narrower end. orbicular: circular or nearly so. ovate: a two dimensional shape, like a section through the long axis of an egg, and attached by the wider end. reniform: kidney-shaped. spathulate (= spatulate): spoon-shaped; broad at the tip and narrowed towards the base. subulate: narrow and tapering gradually to a fine point. |