Glossary of botanical terms in the context of "Berry (botany)"

A leaf (pl.: leaves) is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally above ground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, flower, and fruit collectively form the shoot system. In most leaves, the primary photosynthetic tissue is the palisade mesophyll and is located on the upper side of the blade or lamina of the leaf, but in some species, including the mature foliage of Eucalyptus, palisade mesophyll is present on both sides and the leaves are said to be isobilateral. The leaf is an integral part of the stem system, and most leaves are flattened and have distinct upper (adaxial) and lower (abaxial) surfaces that differ in color, hairiness, the number of stomata (pores that intake and output gases), the amount and structure of epicuticular wax, and other features. Leaves are mostly green in color due to the presence of a compound called chlorophyll which is essential for photosynthesis as it absorbs light energy from the Sun. A leaf with lighter-colored or white patches or edges is called a variegated leaf.

Leaves vary in shape, size, texture and color, depending on the species The broad, flat leaves with complex venation of flowering plants are known as megaphylls and the species that bear them (the majority) as broad-leaved or megaphyllous plants, which also include acrogymnosperms and ferns. In the lycopods, with different evolutionary origins, the leaves are simple (with only a single vein) and are known as microphylls. Some leaves, such as bulb scales, are not above ground. In many aquatic species, the leaves are submerged in water. Succulent plants often have thick juicy leaves, but some leaves are without major photosynthetic function and may be dead at maturity, as in some cataphylls and spines. Furthermore, several kinds of leaf-like structures found in vascular plants are not totally homologous with them. Examples include flattened plant stems called phylloclades and cladodes, and flattened leaf stems called phyllodes which differ from leaves both in their structure and origin. Some structures of non-vascular plants look and function much like leaves. Examples include the phyllids of mosses and liverworts.

Bark is the outermost layer of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines, and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner bark, which in older stems is living tissue, includes the innermost layer of the periderm. The outer bark on older stems includes the dead tissue on the surface of the stems, along with parts of the outermost periderm and all the tissues on the outer side of the periderm. The outer bark on trees which lies external to the living periderm is also called the rhytidome.

Products derived from bark include bark shingle siding and wall coverings, spices, and other flavorings, tanbark for tannin, resin, latex, medicines, poisons, various hallucinogenic chemicals, and cork. Bark has been used to make cloth, canoes, and ropes and used as a surface for paintings and map making. A number of plants are also grown for their attractive or interesting bark colorations and surface textures or their bark is used as landscape mulch.

Pinus, the pines, is a genus of approximately 110–120 extant tree and shrub species. The genus is currently split into two subgenera, subgenus Pinus (hard pines), and subgenus Strobus (soft pines). Each of the subgenera have been further divided into sections and subsections based in the past on morphology, ecology and biogeography, and more recently increasingly from chloroplast DNA sequencing and whole plastid genomic analysis. While the genetic analysis has given robust results at the higher levels, they often give conflicting results lower in the phylogenetic trees, with species allocated to different subsections (and sometimes different sections) by different studies or even within a study. Within subsections, the genetic relationships between species can be even more complex and conflicting; in one study, three samples of the very distinctive and morphologically constant Pinus lambertiana were placed in three different clades of the subsection Strobus, and similar problems with many other species with widespread nonmonophyly.

Several features are used to distinguish the subgenera, sections, and subsections of pines; the number of leaves (needles) per fascicle, whether the fascicle sheaths are deciduous or persistent, the number of fibrovascular bundles per needle (two in Pinus, one in Strobus), the position of the resin ducts in the needles (internal or external), the presence or shape of the seed wings (rudimentary or effective, articulate or adnate), and the position of the umbo (dorsal or terminal) and presence of a prickle on the scales of the seed cones.

Dawsonia superba is a moss in the family Polytrichaceae that is found in Australia, New Guinea, Malaysia, and New Zealand. D. superba is the tallest self-supporting moss in the world, reaching heights of 60 cm (24 in). It has analogous structures to those in vascular plants that support large size, including hydroid and leptoid cells to conduct water and photosynthate, and lamellae that provide gas chambers for more efficient photosynthesis. D. superba is a member of the class Polytrichopsida, although it has a sporophyte that is unique from other hair-cap mosses.

There is some confusion surrounding if Dawsonia superba and Dawsonia longifolia are distinct species or refer to the same moss. According to some sources, Dawsonia longifolia and Dawsonia superba have been merged. For a long time, both D. longifolia and D. superba were used to refer to the same species, with some regional variation in its use. Both terms are still used.

A tracheid is a long and tapered lignified cell in the xylem of vascular plants. It is a type of conductive cell called a tracheary element. Angiosperms also use another type of conductive cell, called vessel elements, to transport water through the xylem. The main functions of tracheid cells are to transport water and inorganic salts, and to provide structural support for trees. There are often pits on the cell walls of tracheids, which allows for water flow between cells. Tracheids are dead at functional maturity and do not have a protoplast. The wood (softwood) of gymnosperms such as pines and other conifers is mainly composed of tracheids. Tracheids are also the main conductive cells in the primary xylem of ferns.

The tracheid was first named by the German botanist Carl Gustav Sanio in 1863, from the German Tracheide.

The watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is a species of flowering plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, that has a large, edible fruit. It is a scrambling and trailing vine-like plant, and is widely cultivated worldwide, with more than 1,000 varieties.

Watermelons are grown in favorable climates from tropical to temperate regions worldwide for its large edible fruit, which is a berry with a hard rind and no internal divisions, and is botanically called a pepo. The sweet, juicy flesh is usually deep red to pink, with many black seeds, although seedless varieties exist. The fruit can be eaten raw or pickled, and the rind is edible after cooking. It may also be consumed as a juice or an ingredient in mixed beverages.