Glossary

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C

Cabombacaea

Water Shield Family. Comprised of 2 genera and about 6 species of aquatic, herbaceous plants that live in still or slow-moving waters of temperate and tropical North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.

Calyx

The sepals, collectively.

Cambaridae

Freshwater Crayfish Family. This is the largest of the four families of freshwater crayfish and is comprised of over 400 species. Most are native to the United States east of the Great Divide and Mexico.

Campanulaceae

Bellflower Family. Comprised of 84 genera and about 2,400 species of mostly herbaceous (woody), perennial plants. Members of this family usually have many showy, blue or white, bell-like flowers.

Caprifoliaceae

Honeysuckle Family. Comprised of 42 genera and 890 species. Well known for its many ornamental shrubs and vines. Members are trees, shrubs, vines or herbs and recognizable by their opposite leaves.

Capsule

A dry, splitting fruit that grows from more than one carpel, usually with several or many seeds.

Carpel

The basic female unit of a flower that bears the ovules; several may be united to form a compound pistil.

Caryophyllaceae

Pink or Carnation Family. Comprised of 100 genera and 2,200 species of herbaceous annuals and perennials. Most are cultivated as garden ornamentals or cut flowers for the floral industry. Members of this family usually have swollen leaf joints, simple undivided leaves, a calyx with five lobes, no stipules, flowers with four or five petals, white, pink or red flowers (rarely yellow, but never blue).

Catkin

A dense spike of many flowers with no petals.

Celastraceae

Staff-Tree Family. Comprised of about 55 genera of woody vines, shrubs, and trees that are native to tropical and temperate zones. Fruit are typically colorful, leaves are leathery and flowers are small, with four to five sepals and petals.

Cerambycidae

Long-horned Beetle Family. Comprised of about 25,000 species of beetles whose common name is derived from the extremely long antennae of most species.

Channidae

Freshwater Perciform Fish or Snakehead Family. Comprised of 3 genera and more than 50 species of elongated, predatory fish. Characterized by their large mouths and long, single dorsal and anal fins. They are also able to breathe atmospheric air with the help of a pair of vascular cavities located near the gills.

Characeae

Stonewort or Freshwater Green Algae Family. Comprised of 6 genera and about 400 species that primarily live in fresh or occasionally, brackish waters. Members of this family have large, macroscopic thalli that grow up to 120 cm long, branched, multicellular and use chlorophyll to photosynthesize. They are very fragile and release a foul odor when crushed.

Clasping

Without a stalk and slightly surrounding the stem.

Cleistogamous

A type of flower that do not open and self-pollinates.

Clone

A group of plants that arise vegetatively from a single plant.

Clupeidae

Ray-finned Fish Family. Includes herrings, sardines, pilchards, shads, menhadens, and allies. Comprised of about 56 genera and 190 species that live in marine waters and many bodies of fresh water.

Clusiaceae

(formerly Guttiferae) Garcinia Family. Comprised of about 14 genera and about 800 species of tropical trees and shrubs. Many of which are important for their fruit, resins, or timbers. Members of this family usually have undivided leaves occurring opposite one another, glands on the leaves, five sepals and five petals, and many stamens.

Cobitidae

True Loach Family. Comprised of more than 200 species with most being native to central and southern Asia. Typical loach have very small scales and 3-6 pairs of whisker-like barbels around its mouth. They are hardy and usually nocturnal.

Concept

Definition

Convolvulaceae

Bindweed or Morning Glory Family. Comprised of 59 genera and about 1,600 species that are widespread in both tropical and temperate areas and cultivated for their colorful, funnel-shaped flowers. Most are twinning and erect herbs, with a few woody vines, trees and shrubs. Members of this family usually have trumpet-shaped flowers with five fused petals, five stamens fused to the base of the trumpet, simple leaves growing alternately up the stem, and a superior ovary.

Crawler

The active stage of an insect immediately after egg hatch (first instar) found among certain insects in the order Hemiptera.

Cyperaceae

Sedge Family. Comprised of 70-115 genera and about 5,000 species of grasslike, herbaceous plants. Member of this family have fibrous roots, triangular stems and three-ranked, linear leaves. Many species are annuals, especially those of weedy or seasonal habits.

Cyprinidae

Minnow and Carp Family. Includes minnows, goldfish, bitterlings, barbs, and carps. Comprised of about 220 genera and 2,420 species that live in fresh but sometimes brackish waters. They have pharyngeal teeth in 1-3 rows, some with 1 or 2 pairs of small barbels and range from 2.5 to 250 cm.