GLOSSARY - The Manual of Seed Saving - page 272

GLOSSARY
AWN Needle-shaped lamina. Awns are the extensions of husks for many cereal grains (rye, barley,
bearded wheat varieties). They can be several centimeters long.
BERRY A fruit that is still soft and juicy when ripe. The most common berries in the vegetable world are
squash, tomatoes, and peppers.
BIODYNAMIC AGRICULTURE A way of practicing organic agriculture based on the anthroposophy of
Rudolf Steiner. Biodynamic farmers and gardeners seek to harness the energies and rhythms of nature
to strengthen crops and livestock and to enhance soil fertility by producing and using so-called biody-
namic preparations.
BOLTING The act of a plant sending up a flower stalk. The term is often used to describe plants that
flower early, which is usually an indication of stress due to drought, heat, too much moisture, or soil
compaction. For fennel and other plants that are sensitive to it, it can be a reaction to day length. For
most crops, varieties differ widely in their resistance to bolting, but differences can also occur within
a variety. Do not save seed from plants that bolt in the first year when they are not supposed to pro-
duce seed until the second year (root vegetables, Swiss chard, onions, leeks, etc.).
CAPSULE A type of fruit made of two or more carpels, or female reproductive organs. They sometimes
have holes for ripe seed to fall out, or explode when ripe to spread seed.
COMMERCIAL VARIETY A variety that is professionally bred and sold in stores.
CROSS-POLLINATION This may refer to the “normal” transfer of pollen from one flower to the stigma of
another or the (undesired unless done intentionally) transfer of pollen from one variety of species to
the stigma of a flower of another variety of the same species.
CULTIVAR A cultivated variety, as opposed to a wild variety.
DAY LENGTH For some annual plants, the length of day (the amount of time between sunrise and sunset)
determines when plants blossom. There are short-day, long-day, and day-neutral plants. Long days are
days over 12 hours. Long-day plants flower in the summer, when days are longest. Most vegetables
are day neutral (e.g., cucumber, tomato).
ETIOLATION When flowering plants are grown in the absence of light, they produce long, weak, pale
stems.
HAND POLLINATION Pollen from the flower of one plant is manually transferred to the stigma of the
flower of another plant. This is done to maintain varietal purity of a variety or to intentionally cross
one variety with another. Free, open pollination is prevented.
HEIRLOOM VARIETY A variety that has been slowly selected and bred in a region by the farmers and
gardeners of that region and is thus well adapted to local conditions. Self-pollinating varieties tend to
form pure, distinct types; with outcrossers, lines between different types blur.
HERBIVORY The consumption of plants by animals.