by Colin Tudge
tension wood Reaction wood that develops in response to tension, which develops on the upper side of big branches of dicot trees, and on the upper surface of leaning trunks, and in buttress roots (which in truth act more like guy-ropes than buttresses).
tetraploid A cell with four sets of chromosomes; or an organism compounded of tetraploid cells.
tissue, tissue culture A tissue is any group of cells of similar type and function. (Organs commonly consist of several different kinds of tissue working in concert.) Tissue culture is the craft and science of maintaining tissues in cultures, used both to study cells and, increasingly, as a means of asexual reproduction: whole new trees (of teak, coconuts, and many more) may be grown from cultured cells taken from outstanding (‘elite’) trees.
totipotent Cells of embryos, and other specialized cells known as ‘stem’ cells, are able to differentiate to form any of the tissues of the organism. Such cells are said to be ‘totipotent’.
trace element, trace mineral A chemical element that is essential for nutrition but is required only in very small amounts. For plants, molybdenum and manganese are examples.
tracheid The xylem of conifers is composed of elongated cells known as tracheids (pronounced with three syllables: ‘track-ay-ids’).
translocation The transfer of water or foodstuffs within a plant. (Used more commonly to refer to the transfer of foodstuffs within the phloem.)
transpiration The loss of water from the aerial parts of the plant. Most of the loss occurs through the stomata.
triploid A cell with three sets of chromosomes, or an organism with triploid cells. Cultivated bananas are triploid (and sexually sterile). So are the cells of the endosperm of angiosperm seeds.
trophic Refers to feeding. Thus plants, which synthesize their own food, are ‘autrotrophs’. The different layers of creatures in a food chain – carnivores eating smaller carnivores eating herbivores eating plants and so on – are referred to as ‘trophic levels’,
tropism Movement, or more accurately growth, towards or away from an external stimulus.
turgid, turgor pressure ‘Turgid’ means swollen, as in a cell that has taken up a lot of water so that it presses hard against the cell wall. Herbaceous plants stay upright primarily because of water pressure in their cells, known as ‘turgor pressure’. The leaves and young shoots of trees are also held in shape by turgor pressure. Herbs and tree leaves wilt when too much water is lost.
U, V
unicellular An organism with only one body cell.
variety A subdivision of a species; see Linnean classification.
vascular, vascular plant ‘Vascular’ refers to any part of a plant that contains conducting tissue, either xylem or phloem. Living vascular plants include all land plants except the bryophytes – mosses, liverworts and hornworts.
vector Anything that carries anything else. Thus bees are vectors of pollen and fruit bats are vectors of figs (and aphids are vectors of viruses that cause many diseases in plants).
vegetative A general term that applies to all parts of the plant apart from those involved in sexual reproduction. ‘Vegetative reproduction’ is reproduction via suckers or rhizomes, or (in cultivation) via cuttings or tissue culture.
vein, venation A vein is the conducting and supporting tissue within a leaf, or in other flat structures. ‘Venation’ refers to the pattern of veins within a leaf.
vessel An open-ended tubular cell of the kind that forms the main conducting tissue within the xylem of an angiosperm. (Also used loosely in this book, and strictly speaking inaccurately, to refer to the corresponding structures in conifers, which should be called ‘tracheids’.)
W, X, Z
weed Any plant growing in places where, in the opinion of the botanist, gardener or forester, it should not be growing. Any plant that the botanist, gardener or forester regards as a nuisance.
whorl A circle of leaves or flower parts. The basic flower contains four whorls: of sepals, petals, stamens and carpels.
wood Botanists apply the term ‘wood’ to secondary xylem.
xylem Conducting tissue that carries water (and minerals dissolved in the water).
zygote A cell formed by the fusion of male and female gametes. In effect, a single-celled embryo.
Index
ABA see abscicic acid
Abies 113, 114–15
abscicic acid 268, 271
abscission 270–71
abura 239
Acacia 25, 166, 180–84, 290
acacias 25, 166, 180–84, 290
acai 148
Acer 161, 225–6, 338, 357
Aceraceae 225–6
Achras 231
acid rain 258
Acorales 142
Adansonia 85, 87, 162–3, 215–17, 178, 393
aerobic respiration 410
Aesculus 226
afara 209
African blackwood 185
African cordia 238
African mahogany 222
African violets 242
African walnut 165, 222
Agassiz, Louis 46
Agathis 41, 101–2
Agavaceae 143
Agave 143
age of trees 85
agoutis, as seed dispersers 343–5
agroforestry 175–6, 180–81, 198, 259–60, 390–92
Ailanthus 219
akye 225
Alaska cedar 107
Albizia 185
alders 189, 202–4, 259
alleles 413
Aleuritis 172
algae 58, 67–8, 69
aliens 182
Alismatales 142
allspice 209
Alluadia 163
almendro tree 343–5
almonds 189, 388
Alnus 189, 202–4, 259
Aloe 143
alpine forests 278
alternation of generations 70, 74, 76, 413
Althaea 213
Altingia 170, 409
Altingiaceae 170
Amazonia 28, 29, 34, 145
Amborellales 129
Amelanchier 189, 409
Amentiferae 202
American ash 242–3
American basswood 199
American beech 199
American chestnut 200
American whitewood 131
ammonia 258
Anacardiaceae 223–4
analogous structures 413
Andaman marblewood 231
Andira 325
aneuploids 23
angelim 37–8, 185, 407
Angiosperm Phylogeny Group 128
angiosperms 128, 413
animal pollination 125, 321–38
Anisoptera 219
Annona 131, 323–4, 389
Annonaceae 131–2, 321
anthers 123
anthocyanin 356–7
antioxidants 356–7, 410
antirrhinums 241
ants 182, 194, 345–6
Apiaceae 228
Apiales 228
Apocynaceae 239–41
apomixis 181
Appalachian birch 205
apples 188–9
apricot 189
Aquifoliaceae 246
Aquifoliales 246
araticum 389
Araucaria 41, 102–103, 278, 282
Araucariaceae 41, 100, 101–4
Arbutus 234
Arceutbobium 165
archaes 66
Arconthophoenix 151
Ardisia 232
Arecaceae 43, 145–52
Arecales 83–4, 142, 145–52
aril 413
Aristotle 39, 46
arms races 340–41, 352–3
Artocarpus 191
ashes 126, 242
Asia, rubber production 175–6
Asia-Pacific red cedars 222
asoka 186
Asparagaceae 143
Asparagales 143–4
asparagus 143
aspens 178, 306, 307–8
Aspholodaceae 143
Aspidosperma 240
aspirin 178
Asteraceae 126, 246–7
Asterales 246–247
asterids 158, 227–47
Attalea 146, 149
Aucoumea 220
Australia, origins of biota 289–91
Australian blackwood 183
Australian names 41
Australobaileyales 129
autotrophs 253
auxin 268, 269
Avicennia 179, 242, 264
Avicenniaceae 242
avocado 133, 388
Azadirachta 39, 187, 222–3, 354
azarirachtin 223, 354
Azores 287
bacteria 58, 66, 180, 189–90, 258–60
Bactris 149
Baikiaea 185
Balfourodendron 220–21
balsa 217–8
balsam fir 115, 306
balsam poplar 306
bamboos 153–5
Bambusoideae 153–5
bananas 15, 24, 155
banha-de-galinha 389
Banks, Joseph 201
Banksia 160, 210, 290
banyan 192–3
baobab 85, 87, 162–3, 215–17, 178, 393
Barbados cherry 179
bark 84, 85–86
barley 387
Barringtonia 237
Basidiomycetes 97
basswood 214
Bates, Henry Walter 28–9
bats 327–9, 344–5, 346–7
bay rum 209
bay tree 133
bayberry 208
beech 196, 198–200
bees 322, 324–7
beetles 131, 132, 322, 323–4
berberries 160
Bertholettia 235, 326–7
betel nut 138
betel palm 149
Betula 14, 25, 202, 204–5
Betulaceae 202–6
betulin 205
Bhojvaid, Padam 393
Bignoniaceae 243
Bignoniales 241
bilateral symmetry of flowers 125
Billia 226
binomial system 49
biochemistry 252
biodiversity of tropics 279
biomass, in tropics 294–5
biopiracy 134, 175, 387
birch syrup 388
birches 14, 25, 203, 204–5
bird cherry 189
bird-of-paradise flower 155
birds 327, 346–7
Biswas, Sas 166, 345–6
bittersweet 171
black alder 203
black cherry 189, 199
black drink 246
black locust tree 186
black mangrove 264
black pine 41, 119
black poplar 178
black sapote 230
black spruce 306
blackwood 42, 181
Bligbia sapida 225
blue-green algae 259
Bohm, David 62
bois de rose 185
Bombacaceae 213, 115–18
Bombax 217
Bonpland, Aimé 28
boole tree 97
borage 238
Boraginaceae 238
Borassus 146, 150
boreal forest, effect of ice ages 304–5
Borneo teak 185
boron 252
Boswellia 220
botanical keys 34, 48
bottle palms 146–7
bottlebrush trees 160
box trees 161
Brachylaena 246
Brassicales 168
Brazil nut tree 235, 326–7
Brazil, rubber production 173–5
Brazilian pine 103
Brazilian tulipwood 185
brazilwood 185
breadfruit 191
breadnut 191
briony 143
Brisimum 191
Britain, endemics 278–9, 287–8
broadleaves 157, 413
Bromeliaceae 153
broomrapes 242
brown pine 41, 119
Brown, Nick 298–9
Brutelle, Louis L’Heritier de 211
bryophytes 69–71, 413–14
buckeyes 226
buckthorn 232
Buddleia 242
buds 140, 145, 148, 153, 210, 269–70
buildings, timber 384–6
Bulsia 171
bum seed 149
Burmese rosewood 185
Burnham, Robyn 288
burrs 89
Burseraceae 219–20
butcher’s broom 144
buttercups 160
butterflies 322–3
buttonwoods 161
buttress roots 88
Butyrospermum 231
Buxaceae 161
Buxus 161
cabbage palm 151
cabbages 168
cachuchu 173
Cactaceae 163
cacti 163
Caesalpinia 185
cajuput oil 209
Catamites 74–5
Calamus 146, 150
calcium 252
California fan palm 151
Callistris 105, 106
Calluna 233
Calvaria 232, 348–9
Calycophyllum 239
calyx 122
cambium 83, 85, 399, 414
Camellia 233
camphor 133, 218
camphorwood 134
Canallaceae 135
Canaries 287
Canada balsam 115
candleberry 208
candlenut tree 172
Canella 135
Canellales 135
Cannabinaceae 195
Cannabis 194
cannonball tree 236, 237
carambola 179
carbohydrates 252
carbon 252, 372, 414
carbon dioxide 302, 370–71
cardamon 155
Caribbean pine 392
Cariniana 234, 235
Carnegia 163
carotene 357
carpels 123
Carpinus 199, 202, 205–6
carrion flower 240
carrots 228
Carya 207
Caryophyllales 162–3
Caryota 146, 151
cashew 223–4, 388
cassava 172
Castanea 196, 200, 388
castor oil plant 172
Casuarina 206
Casuarinaceae 206
Catalpa 243
Catha 172
Catharanthus 240
Cathaya 113, 115
catkins 414
cauliflory 84
cavitation 256
Ceanothus 190
Cecropia 87, 194–5, 320
Cecropiaceae 194–5
cedar, as timber name 42
cedars 115
Cedrela 42, 222
Cedrus 115
Celastraceae 171–2
celery pines 119–20
celery 228
Celestra 171
cell culture 69
cells 66–9
cellulose 72
Celstrales 171–2
Celtidaceae 191
Celtis 191
centres of origin 280, 281–2
Cephalotaxaceae 100, 104
Cephalotaxus 104
Ceratopetalum 179
Cercidiphyllaceae 170
Cerciphyllum 170, 409
Cercis 186
cereals 387, 388
Cereus 163
Ceroxylon 146
Cerrado 14–5, 86, 146, 209, 234, 377–8, 389
Ceylon ebony 231
Ceylon satinwood 221
Ckaenomeles 189
Chamaecyparis 105, 106–7
Chamaedorea 151
Chamaerops 145
cherimoya 131
cherry mahogany 232
chestnut blight 200
chestnuts, horse 226
chestnuts, sweet 196, 200, 388
chewing gum 231, 24
0
Chilean wine palm 149
Chinese tallow tree 172
chinkapin 196
chinkapins 200
chinquapin 196
chlorine 252
Chlorophora 191
chlorophyll 253–4, 357, 414
chloroplasts 66, 67, 410, 414
Chloroxylon 221
chromosomes 414
Chrysanthemum 354
Chrysolepis 196, 200
Chrysophyllum 231
Chukrasia 345–6
Chusan palm 146
Cinchona 173, 239
Cinnamomum 133
cinnamon 133
Cinnamosma 135
circadian rhythmn 414
citron 220
Citrus 220
citruses, insecticides 354
clades 126, 129, 158, 414
cladistics 55–6, 414–15
classes 49, 58, 415
classification 44–9
see also taxonomy
climate change 276, 369–81
climax vegetation 304
clones 25, 26, 415
cloud forests 278
cloves 209
club mosses 73
Clusiaceae 179
coachwood 179
coastal redwood 110
Coccothrinax 150
coco de mer 126, 149
cocoa 215
coconut 146, 150, 338
Cocos 146
co-evolution 321, 332–6
Coffea 238–9
coffee 238–9
coir 150
Cola 215
collaboration 67
Colombobalanus 196
Colophospermum 358
colour
of flowers 322–3, 327
of plants 356–8
of timber 87, 90
Combretaceae 209, 264
comfrey 238
Commelinales 143
Commiphora 220
common oak 197, 198
communities 415
competition 67
complexity, of tropical habitats 295–6
Compositae 126, 246
compression wood 88
cones 50, 99
Congo, rubber 173
conifers 58, 95–121, 415
age of 282
and angiosperms 96–7
centres of diversity 98–9
classification 100–121
distribution of 287
in India 98
and light 97–8
New Zealand 39, 41
numbers of 30
in timber trade 99–100
xylem 82–3
continental drift 282–7, 302–3
convergence 56, 61–2, 415