Glossary
Achene: a small, dry, indehiscent fruit with a single locule and a single seed (ovule) attached to the ovary wall at a single point.
Acrid: strongly bitter to the taste.
Afebrile: without fever.
Agalactia: failure to secrete milk
Alternate: leaf arrangement when only one leaf is at any one level on the stem.
Anemic: deficient in either hemoglobin or red blood cells.
Annual: a plant completing its entire life cycle in one growing season.
Anorexia: loss of appetite for food.
Anoxia: absence or deficiency of oxygen.
Anthelmintic: chemical that destroys intestinal worms.
Anuria: decrease in urinary secretion to 100 ml or less in 24 hours.
Arthrogryposis: persistent flexure of a joint; retention of a joint in a fixed position.
Asphyxia: death due to insufficient oxygen in the blood.
Astringent: a chemical that shrinks tissues.
Ataxia: lack of coordination.
Atony: lack of normal tone (vigor and tension).
Berry: a type of fruit that is usually fleshy throughout.
Biennial: a plant which lives two years.
Blade: the broad and flat portion of a leaf.
Bloat: abnormal amount of gas in the first stomach of cattle.
Bradycardia: abnormally slow heart rate and pulse.
Capsule: a type of fruit that is dry and splits along two or more lines.
Cardiac: pertaining to the heart
Cathartic: a purging medicine intermediate in action between a laxative and purgative.
Catkin: an inflorescence crowded with small, unisexual flowers lacking petals; usually pendant.
Cholestasis: retention and accumulation of bile in the liver.
Coma: a condition of insensibility.
Conjunctivity: inflammation of the membrane lining the eye and eyelids.
Convulsions: a violent uncontrolled series of muscular contractions.
Corolla: a collective term for the petals of a flower.
Cyanosis: turning blue or purple due to a lack of oxygen in the blood.
Cystitis: inflammation of the urinary bladder.
Delirium: a state of frenzied excitement.
Demulcent: a substance, such as oil or lard, that can soothe or protect inflamed mucous membranes.
Diarrhea: abnormal and frequent discharge of a liquid substance from the intestines.
Dilated pupils: enlarged pupils.
Diuretic: a chemical that increases the secretion and discharge of urine.
Drupe: a fruit type with a fleshy outside and a stony pit in the center that contains the seed.
Dyspnea: shortness of breath; difficulty or labored respiration. Dyspneic, adj.
Dysuria: painful urination.
Ecchymotic: discolored skin or soft tissue due to invasion of blood.
Edema: excessive accumulation of body fluid in tissues and cavities.
Emetic: a chemical or substance that causes vomiting.
Enteritis: inflammation of the intestinal tract.
Entire: a leaf margin that is smooth, not toothed or wavy.
Epistaxis: hemorrhage from the nose.
Floret: the individual flower of the grasses.
Follicle: a type of fruit that is dry and opens by only one slit.
Friable: breaks easily into small pieces.
Gastritis: inflammation of the stomach.
Gastroenteritis: inflammation of the stomach and intestines.
Glabrous: devoid of hairs or scales.
Glaucous: covered with a whitish or bluish, waxy coating.
Heinz-bodies: round aggregates of precipitated, denatured hemoglobin attached to red blood cell membranes.
Hematuria: blood in the urine.
Hemoglobinuria: having hemoglobin in the urine.
Hemolysis: distintegration of elements in the blood.
Hemoptysis: saliva containing blood from bronchial and/or pulmonary hemorrhage.
Hemorrhage: a copious discharge of blood from the vessels; excessive bleeding.
Herbaceous: a plant that is nonwoody and that dies back to the ground each year.
Hyperemia: distention of the blood vessels due to increased blood in a body part.
Hyperkalemic: with excess potassium in the blood.
Hypocalcemia: low amount of calcium in the blood.
Hypoplasia: incomplete development of an organ or tissue.
Hypoxia: an abnormally decreased supply or concentration of oxygen.
Icterus: jaundice; a yellowish coloration of skin, tissues, and body fluids.
Inflorescence: the arrangement or grouping of flowers in a branch system.
Keratitis: inflammation of the cornea.
Laminitis: inflammation of the laminae of a horse’s foot.
Laryngeal: pertaining to the larynx.
Laxative: a chemical that produces a mild intestinal discharge or evacuation.
Leaflet: the blade-like portion of a divided (compound) leaf.
Leukopenia: marked reduction in the numbers of circulating white blood cells.
Methemoglobinemia: oxidized hemoglobin; a condition in which the blood is incapable of carrying oxygen.
Mucous membrane: thin lining of many of the cavities and passages in the body.
Mydriasis: prolonged or excessive dilation of the pupil of the eye.
Myocarditis: inflammation of the muscular substance of the heart.
Narcotic: drug, which in moderate doses, causes insensibility and relieves pain; in large amounts produces stupor or convulsions.
Nausea: sickness of the stomach and an urge to vomit.
Necrosis: localized death of living tissue.
Nephrosis: a disease of the kidney.
Nut: a dry, hard, indehiscent, 1-seeded fruit, with or without an outer husk.
Oliguria: decrease in urinary secretion to 100-400 ml in 24 hours.
Opisthotonos: a violent spasm that flexes the head and feet backward.
Opposite: two leaves, opposing each other, at any one level on the stem.
Ovule: an immature seed; the megasporangium and surrounding integuments of a seed plant.
Panicle: rather broad and often many-branched inflorescence.
Parenteral: otherwise than through the alimentary canal.
Pedicel: stalk of an individual flower in an inflorescence.
Perennial: plants that continue to live year after year.
Perianth: collective term for the sepals and petals of a flower.
Petal: one unit of the inner whorl of sterile parts of the flower; usually colored and showy.
Petechial: minute, red spots due to the escape of small amounts of blood.
Petiole: the stalk of a leaf.
Pistil: the central structure(s) of a flower which develops into the fruit after fertilization.
Polyuria: excessive urination.
Proteinuria: protein in the urine.
Pubescent: hairy.
Purgative: a chemical causing a very strong intestinal evacuation.
Purging: an evacuation of the intestinal tract.
Raceme: a rather elongated and slender inflorescence in which the pedicels are attached to a simple central axis.
Rachis: the axis of an inflorescence or of a compound leaf.
Renal: pertaining to the kidney.
Respiratory: pertaining to the lungs and other breathing organs.
Rhizome: an underground stem
Rootstock: an underground, rootlike stem.
Rosette: a dense radiating cluster of leaves (or other plant organs), usually at or near ground level.
Ruminotorics: compounds used in the treatment of rumen hypomotility; i.e., to stimulate rumen motility.
Salivation: an excessive discharge of saliva from the mouth.
Scurfy: scaly or rough to the touch.
Sedative: a chemical that eases excitement or pain.
Seed: a ripened ovule after fertilization; embryonic plant within a protective coat.
Sepal: one unit of the outer whorl of sterile parts of the flower; often green but sometimes colored.
Sessile: attached directly to the stem, without a petiole or pedicel.
Spasm: an uncontrolled and unnatural muscular contraction.
Spikelet: one of the small parts that form the head in grasses; containing one to many florets.
Sporangia: small containers of spores.
Spore: a minute structure, not a seed, which is capable of developing into a new individual; reproductive body in many primitive plants (e.g., ferns).
Stamen: the part of a flower in which the pollen is formed; the pollen-bearing organ of a flower.
Stasis: a stoppage of flow as of blood or other fluids, or intestinal contents.
Stimulant: a chemical that temporarily increases activity.
Stipules: two small leaves at the base of a leaf.
Stomatitis: inflammation of the oral mucous membranes.
Stupor: partial or complete unconsciousness.
Tachycardia: rapid heart action and pulse.
Tenesmus: ineffectual and painful straining at stool or in urination.
Tremor: an involuntary trembling, shivering, or shaking.
Umbel: an inflorescence in which all the flower pedicels arise from the same point at the tip of the stem
Urethritis: inflammation of the urethra
Vertigo: dizziness, often resulting in
staggering.
Whorled: three or more leaves arising at any one level on a stem.
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