Glossary of plant biology terms
A glossary of terms and definitions used in plant biology and related disciplines such as botany, biogeography, palaeontology, plant taxonomy and classification and evolutionary biology.
This glossary forms part of the Plant2pollinator resources.
| Anther | The male organ of a flowering plant that presents pollen. |
| Herbivory | Herbivory is the act of eating plants and a herbivore is an animal that eats plants. |
| Insect | An insect is an invertebrate (animal without backbone). Insects play a very important role in the web of life, in every environment. Some of their jobs include pollinating flowering plants, being a source of food for insectivorous animals and assisting in the decomposition of plants and animals. Some typical features of most insects are three body parts –head, thorax and abdomen, one or two pairs of wings (although lice, fleas, bristletails and silverfish are completely wingless), no internal skeleton and one pair of antennae on the head. |
| Nectar | A sugar-rich liquid and source of carbohydrate for birds and insects. |
| Ovary | The ovary protects eggs (unfertilised seeds) and is found at the base of the flower. |
| Pollen | Grains of pollen are made by the male organs of a plant (stamens in flowers) and contains genetic information needed for plant reproduction, also a source of protein for insects. |
| Pollination | Pollination is the delivery of pollen to the female organs of a plant (stigma in flowers) and results in seed production. |
| Pollinator | Carrier of pollen from plant to plant. Insects, birds, mammals and even reptiles can be pollinators. The wind is also a pollinator for fine pollen grains. |
| Pollinator mutualism | An interaction between individuals of two (or more) species in which the growth, growth rate and/or population size of both are increased in a reciprocal association, where this association specifically refers to the consumption of nectar and/or pollen and subsequent transfer of genetic material from one plant to another by a pollinator species. |
| Species | A sub-classification (after genus) of animals or plants which can interbreed. |
| Stamen | Male structure of the flower which consists of the anther and the filament |
| Tubular (as in flower shape) | Bell-shaped. |
