Form, Elevation & Margin
Colony Shape Colony morphology can be useful in bacterial identification. Colony Shape: includes form, elevation and margin of the bacterial colony.
Form Form of the bacterial colony: the shape of the colony. Circular, Irregular, Filamentous, Rhizoid
Elevation Elevation of bacterial colony: This describes the “side view” of a colony. Raised, convex, flat, umbonate (having a knobby protuberance), and crateriform
Margin Margin of bacterial colony: edge of a colony Entire (smooth), undulate (wavy), filiform, curled , lobate Colonies that are irregular in shape and/or have irregular margins are likely to be motile organisms.
Colony Surface Appearance of the colony surface: colonies are frequently shiny and smooth in appearance. Other surface descriptions: dull (opposite of glistening), veined, rough, wrinkled (or shriveled), glistening.
Other Characteristics Opacity - transparent, opaque, translucent, iridescent, etc. Pigmentation - white, buff, red, purple, etc.