Logical division in the general classification of living species, encompassing several genera (although, sometimes only one; included within an order); term used to describe a large group of plants with certain characteristics in common. Several genera constitute a family, which can be designated by a latin name or its translation – The Compositae or Composites, for example, is the name of all the plants with flowers similar to the daisy.
Fiddleheads
Young curled fern frond.
Filament
The stalk of the stamen that sustains the anthers.
Floret
Small flower that, together with several others, forms the core of the flower. E.g., the majority of daisies are formed by several florets.
Flower
Generally the most visible characteristic of a plant, the flower is an organ made of very specialized parts, related with sexual reproduction. Some plants produce flowers with only male organs (stamens) or female organs (pistils). These parts are generally surrounded by a ring of colored petals and green sepals. In the majority of plants, a flower has both male and female organs; however some species have male flowers and female flowers, like the begonia: the male flowers have a series of brightly colored petals with stamens full of pollen, whereas the female flowers have a large winged sac of seeds, behind the petals.
Flower Border
Row of herbs, usually flowers, used to outline a flower bed, along the edge.
Flower bud
Flower that has not yet blossomed, generically a bud.
Freesia
Names after the botanist who discovered the plant (Frederich H.T. Freese).
Frond
Term used to designate fern leaves with well demarcated divisions, that possess spores and arise from a rhizome; the term is also commonly used to designate palm leaves.
Fruit
Any adult ovary containing mature seeds. The outer cover can be smooth and fleshy, like berries; or dry, like the Streptocarpus; organ resulting from the development of a flower’s ovary, generally following fertilization, although in some cases the fruit can result from the development of the ovary determined by a different stimulus than fertilization.
Pseudofruit (or Accessory fruit): Structure that develops from flowers, but in fact does not develop from an ovary. Cashews, apples and quince are pseudofruits because they are not derived from the ovaries; strawberries, because they are derived from the several ovaries of a single flower; pineapple, raspberries and figs develop from different parts of several flowers.