| Vascular |
Referring to xylem tissue, that transports water and some nutrients through the plant, and phloem tissue, that transports food. |
| Vascular tissue |
The tissue that circulates fluid and nutrients, as opposed to cellular tissue. The veins of a leaf are vascular tissue. |
| Vegetative |
Refers to roots, stems and leaves, and not to any sexual organs. |
| Venation |
If referring to a leaf, the primary vein or midrib, the secondary veins and tertiary venation collectively. |
| Verrucose |
Having warts. See verruculose. |
| Verruculose |
Minutely warty. See verrucose. |
| Verticallister |
Two opposite cymes, usually sessile, growing from the opposite leaf axils, giving the appearance of flowers arranged in a whorl. Seen particularly in the family Lamiaceae. |
| Verticillate |
Several leaves arising at each node, forming whorls around the stem. |
| Vestigial |
Degenerate, rudimentary, or atrophied, having become functionless in the course of evolution. |
| Vexillum |
the uppermost, posterior petal of a papilionaceous flower (shaped like a pea flower), also referred to as the standard or banner. |
| Villous |
Shaggy. |
| Virgate |
With erect, wand-shaped branches or stems (from the Latin virgātus, 'rod-like'). |
| Viscid |
Sticky. |
| Whorl |
A set of similar organs, such as leaves, arranged in a circle around a central point such as a node. |
| Wind-pollinated |
Pollen distributed by air, and not by insects or other agents. |
| Xerophyte |
A plant adapted to an environment of low water availability. |
| Xylem |
Xylem is a type of tissue in vascular plants that transports water and soluble mineral nutrients from the roots throughout the plant. Evaporation of water from the leaves is the primary cause of xylem flow, creating a pull effect by capillary action that can lift water to the tops of the highest trees. Wood contains the best-known xylem tissue. See phloem. |
| Zygomorphic |
Zygomorphic flowers can be divided into mirror-image halves by a straight line passing through the mid-point in one direction only. It has bilateral symmetry, whereas a flower that is actinomorphic has radial symmetry. Zygomorphic flowers typically have petals of two more different shapes and sizes. |
| Zygote |
An egg cell fertilized by the union of a female gamete, being an egg or ovum, with a male gamete, or sperm. |
