In
botany
Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...
, sessility (meaning "sitting", in the sense of "resting on the surface") is a characteristic of plant organs such as flowers or leaves that have no stalk.
Plant parts can also be described as subsessile, that is, not completely sessile.
A sessile flower is one that lacks a
pedicel (flower stalk). A flower that is not sessile is
pedicellate. For example, the genus ''Trillium'' is partitioned into multiple subgenera, the sessile-flowered trilliums (
''Trillium'' subgen. ''Sessilia'') and the pedicellate-flowered trilliums.
The term "sessility" is also used in
mycology
Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungus, fungi, including their Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, genetics, biochemistry, biochemical properties, and ethnomycology, use by humans. Fungi can be a source of tinder, Edible ...
to describe a fungal
fruit body
The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cyc ...
that is attached to or seated directly on the surface of the
substrate
Substrate may refer to:
Physical layers
*Substrate (biology), the natural environment in which an organism lives, or the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached
** Substrate (aquatic environment), the earthy material that exi ...
, lacking a supporting
stipe or
pedicel.
References
Plant morphology
Fungal morphology and anatomy
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