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Phlox Subulata (moss pink) in landscape. Photo © Elaine Mills
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Sessile

sessile [ SES-il, -ahyl ] adjective: attached directly by the base without a stalk

There are several plant parts that can be described as sessile. A sessile leaf does not have a petiole and attaches directly to the stem. A sessile flower does not have a pedicel and attaches directly to the stalk. A sessile stigma does not have a style and attaches directly to the flower’s ovary. A sessile fungus does not have a stipe and attaches directly to the substrate surface.

Opposite, sessile, lanceolate leaves of native Physostegia virginiana
Opposite, sessile leaves (except the lower 1–7 petiolate pairs) of native Physostegia virginiana (obedient plant).
Photo © Mary Free
Lanceolate, sessile leaves of native Solidago caesia
Alternate, lanceolate, glabrous, sessile leaves of native Solidago caesia (blue-stemmed goldenrod).
Photo © Elaine Mills
Compound leaf with leaflets sessile on the rachis and a 1-1.5" long petiole of Berberis bealei (leatherleaf mahonia).
Petiolate compound leaves of invasive Berberis bealei (leatherleaf mahonia) have sessile leaflets on their rachises (midribs). Photo © Elaine Mills
Spikelets (one sessile fertile and one stalked sterile) are paired along the spike of Schizachyrium scoparium (little bluestem). Photo © Mary Free
The flower of native Trillium sessile (sessile trillium, toadshade) has no pedicel and appears to rise straight from the bracts. Photo © Elaine Mills
Globular heads of sessile tubular flowers of Cephalanthus occidentali
Two-spotted bumble bee on sessile tubular flowers of native Cephalanthus occidentalis (buttonbush).
Photo © Mary Free
Spotted cucumber beetle among ribbon-like petals of sessile flowers in axillary clusters of Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel).
Spotted cucumber beetle on an axillary cluster of sessile flowers of native Hamamelis virginiana (witch hazel).
Photo © Elaine Mills
A determinate spike of loosely to densely packed sessile florets of native Liatris spicata (dense blazing star).
Photo © Mary Free
Sessile trifid stigma without a style of Tulipa gesneriana (Parrot Division 10).
The three-lobed ovary of Tulipa gesneriana (Division 10, parrot tulip) is terminated by a sessile trifid stigma.
Photo © Mary Free
Native Podophyllum peltatum flower
The flower of native Podophyllum peltatum (mayapple) has a sessile, undulate stigma.
Photo © Elaine Mills

References

Plants by Name. Minnesota Wildflowers. (accessed October 23, 2012).

Radford AE, Ahles HE, Bell CR. 1983. Manual of the Vascular Flora of the Carolinas. The University of North Carolina Press.

Weakley AS, Ludwig JC, Townsend JF. 2012. Flora of Virginia. Botanical Research Institute of Texas.

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