Garden Glossary

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E-M

Ecosystem - a system consisting of a community of animals, plants and microorganisms and the physical and chemical environment in which they interrelate.

Element - a substance that cannot be separated into different substances. All matter is made of elements.

Endophyte - a plant living within another plant. In turfgrasses, it is a fungus within the grass plant secreting substances that repel insect pests.

Epiphyte - A plant that usually grows on another plant and gets its nutrients from the air and water.

Espalier - a plant trained to grow flat against a wall or trellis.

Established - the state of a plant when it is adjusted to the site and thriving.

Evergreen plants - plants that do not drop the current season's leaves at the end of the growing season.

Fallow - cultivated land that is allowed to lie idle for a growing season.

Fertilization - the application of nutrients for plant growth. The union of the egg and sperm.

Fertilizer burn - the browning and in extreme cases, killing of plants from exposure to excessive nitrogen.

Fibrous root - a root system where the roots are finely divided.

Field capacity - the amount of water soil can hold against the force of gravity.

Filament - the part of the stamen that holds the anther in position for pollen dispersal.

Fine fescues - a fine-leaved turfgrass that grows well in shade, low soil moisture, low fertility and low pH. It requires well-drained, slightly dry soils. Red, hard and chewing fescues are included in this group.

Floricanes - on raspberries and blackberries, two-year-old canes which bear fruit and then die.

Food chain - a sequence of organisms in a community in which each member of the chain feeds on the member below it, as in fox, rabbit and grass.

Force - manipulation of environmental factors to make a plant blossom out of season.

Frond - the leaf of a fern.

Frost pocket - a depression in the terrain into which cold air drains, but cannot escape.

Fruiting wood - on grapevine, the one-year-old canes that will produce the current year's fruit.

Fungi - saprophytic and parasitic organisms that lack chlorophyll and include molds, rusts, mildews, smuts, mushrooms and yeast; singular, fungus.

Gametophyte - the phase of a life cycle which has half the normal number of chromosomes.

Genus - groups of closely related species clearly defined from other plants.

Girdling - removing the bark from a woody stem to kill the plant. Encircling a stem with a material so that the cambium layer is destroyed, killing the plant.

Grafting - the joining of two separate structures, such as a root and a stem or two stems, so that by tissue regeneration they form a union and grow as one plant.

Green manure - an annual cover crop that is turned into the soil before it flowers.

Greensand - an organic source of potassium. About 7% potash plus 32 trace elements.

Grub - short, fat, worm-like larva, especially of beetles.

Guard cells - specialized crescent-shaped cells that control the opening and closing of a stomata.

Harden off - to acclimate a plant to harsher conditions.

Hardiness - the ability to withstand harsh environmental conditions.

Hardpan - a hard, compacted, often clayey layer of soil through which roots cannot grow.

Hardwood cutting - a mature, woody piece of a woody plant that is removed to asexually propagate a new individual plant.

Heave - the partial lifting of a plant out of the soil as a result of alternating freezing and thawing of the soil.

Heavy metals - the heavy metals of concern to gardeners are lead, zinc, nickel, arsenic, copper and cadmium. These metals can be toxic to plants when they accumulate to high levels in the soil.

Heeling in - covering the roots of dormant plants with soil or mulch for short periods.

Heirloom vegetables - cultivars that were popular a generation or more ago.

Herbaceous - a nonwoody plant.

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Herbicide - an agent that stops plant growth or kills a plant.

Herbivore - a plant-eating animal.

Hill planting - grouping plants in a cluster, not necessarily on an elevated mound.

Holdfast - a part of a plant that clings to a flat surface.

Honeydew - a sugary substance secreted by aphids and other juice-sucking, plant-feeding insects.

Hotbed - a bed of soil enclosed by a structure with a top of glass, heated, often by manure, for forcing or raising seedlings.

Incomplete metamorphosis - gradual growth of an arthropod that involves change in size, but not form.

Incubation - the growth of a pathogen so that it can enter a host.

Indeterminate - growth that is potentially limitless.

Infection - the stage when a pathogen is growing in a host and causing damage.

Inoculant - a microorganism which is introduced into the soil to improve growth of legume crops.

Inoculation - the introduction of a pathogen to a host.

Inorganic - being or composed of matter other than plant and animal; often of mineral origin.

Instar - the stage in the life of an arthropod between molts.

Internode - the area on a stem between nodes.

Interplant - growing two different intermixed crops in an area to maximize space usage.

Interstem - an intermediate stem piece that is grafted between the scion and the stock.

Irrigation - to supply water by artificial means, such as with sprinklers.

Kentucky bluegrass - a cool-season turfgrass that spreads by rhizomes. It is the most popular species for high-quality lawns in Ohio. It is very winter hardy.

Landscape fabric - a loosely intertwined fabric that is placed over the soil as a mulch to reduce weed invasion.

Larva - a stage of insect complete metamorphosis between the egg and pupal stages. The feeding, growing, nonreproductive stage of insect development.

Latent bud - a dormant bud that is capable of growth and development.

Lateral bud - smaller buds on the sides of stems, responsible for growth of leaves and side branches.

Lath house - a structure consisting of a frame supporting strips of wood which are spaced to provide about 50% shade.

Layering - a method of propagation in which adventitious roots form before the new plant is severed from the parent plant.

Leach - to dissolve in water and wash away.

Leaf scorch - injury to leaves due to lack of sufficient water, excessive transpiration or injury to the water-conducting system of the plant.

Long-day plant - a plant that requires a night shorter than its critical dark period, usually 12 hours or less, to develop flowers.

Macronutrients - the nutrients needed in large amounts by plants: nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, magnesium, calcium and sulfur.

Marginally hardy - close to the limit of hardiness that a plant can withstand. Planting plants that are marginally hardy is risky, because under the most severe conditions for that zone, the plant may not survive without extra protection.

Matted-row - a system of planting where plants are placed off center or are centered on a diagonal.

Meristem - a region of cell and tissue initiation; cells that do not mature, but remain capable of further growth and division.

Metamorphosis - the changes of form insects go through in their life cycle from egg to immature stages to adult.

Microbe - also microorganism; an organism of microscopic size.

Microclimate - the local climate of a small site or habitat.

Micronutrients - the nutrients needed in small amounts by plants: iron, manganese, zinc, copper, molybdenum, boron and chlorine.

Miticide - a pesticide that kills mites.

Mollusk - invertebrate animals with soft, unsegmented bodies, such as clams and snails, usually enclosed in a calcium shell.

Molt - to shed the exoskeleton to accommodate growth.

Monocot - or monocotyledon, flowering plants that have embryos with only one cotyledon.

Monoecious - plants that have both male and female flowers on the same plant.

Moss - small, leafy plants that do not produce flowers or seeds. They grow in moist, shaded areas where fertility is low.

Mycoplasma - disease-causing agents similar to viruses.

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