Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts home page

About us | Contact us | Publications | What's new

Header imagesHeader imagesHeader images

Australian Biological Resources Study

[an error occurred while processing this directive]

Flora of Australia
GLOSSARY

Compiled by A.McCusker


Back to Glossaries  
epigynous: of floral parts (especially stamens), attached above the level of insertion of the ovary, and arising from tissue that is fused to the ovary wall. cf. hypogynous, perigynous.
hypanthium: a cup or tube bearing floral parts above the base, and often above the top, of the ovary of a flower, e.g. in many Myrtales. cf. calyx tube.
hypogynous: of perianth segments and stamens, arising below the level of insertion of the ovary (often applied, loosely, to a flower in which the sepals, petals and stamens are inserted below the ovary). cf. epigynous, perigynous.
inferior: of an ovary, at least partly below the level of attachment of the other floral parts. cf. superior.
ovary: the basal portion of a carpel or group of fused carpels, enclosing the ovule(s).
perigynous: of perianth segments and stamens, arising from a cup or tube (hypanthium) that is free from the ovary but extending above its base. cf. epigynous, hypogynous.
stipitate: stalked; borne on a stipe; of an ovary, borne on a gynophore.
superior: of an ovary, borne above the level of attachment of the other floral parts, or above the base of a cup (hypanthium) that is free from the ovary and bears the perianth segments and stamens. cf. inferior.
Position of Floral Organs
© Commonwealth of Australia