Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
GLOSSARY
Acid soils
Soil with a pH value less than
pH6.5. Calcium and magnesium will be
lacking.
specific attributes. Persimmon 'Fuyu' and
Persimmon 'Dai Dai Maru' are both cultivars
of the wild species
Diospyrus kaki
.
Adventitious roots
Roots that arise from a
piece of plant rather than from a seed, e.g.
cuttings have adventitious roots.
Dicot
Flowering plants that originate from a
seed with two seed leaves, having a cambium
layer forming a ring just under the outer stem
(see Figure 1.2). They have leaves with
branching veins.
Aerial roots
Roots that develop on plant
parts that are above ground, surviving light
and air. In some climbers they are
mechanisms that attach the plant to a solid
surface, e.g. ivy.
Dioecious
Plants that bear flowers of a
single sex only. A male plant and a female
plant are required to produce fruit, e.g. holly
and pistachio.
Alkaline soils
Soils with a pH value greater
than pH7. They will be lacking in iron, but
rich in calcium and magnesium.
Dormant/dormancy
A stage in the plants
lifecycle where no growth occurs, e.g. winter
for an apple tree.
Apical buds
Buds that are formed at the
very tip of a stem.
Grafting
Where the cambium layers of
two plant stems are cut (naturally or by
design) and matched together to grow
into one joined stem. This enables the
production of grafted trees (e.g. cultivars of
fruit trees) and ensures the strength of
pleaching techniques.
Biennial bearing
Plants that fruit profusely
one year and fail to crop the following year.
Bulbous plants
Plants that grow from a
fleshy root or stem, generally monocots with
strappy leaves.
Canopy
The area that is covered by a plants
stems and leaves, like the extent of an
umbrella.
Intercalary meristem
A point of growth that
is situated above the root system and gives rise
to grassy or strappy leaves.
Central leader
The central stem or trunk of
a tree.
Lateral branches
Branches that grow to the
side of a larger stem and promote the
thickening of that stem.
Cordons
A style of espalier where a tree is
trained to a single stem. They are often
planted at an approximate 30° angle from the
vertical.
Leaf nodes
A small swelling or bump on the
stem where the leaf is produced. It is this
growth point or meristem that gives rise to
the leaf and possibly subsequent branches on
the plant.
Cultivar
A plant that has been propagated
by gardeners or nurserymen to display
