House Plant Glossary

Air layering: A method of propagating a single-stemmed plant which has lost its lower leaves.

Areole: A hairy, cushion-like area found at the base of the spines on cacti.

Bleeding: When sap is lost from a plant after it has been cut.

Bract: A modified, often brightly colored leaf which grows near the calyx of a flower.

Bulb: An underground bud from which flowers and leaves grow.

Cactus: Succulent plant with a thick, fleshy stem. Usually has spines and brightly colored flowers, but no leaves.

Calyx: A ring of leaves around a bud or flower.

Capillary action: Natural tendency for water to be drawn upwards.

Colored leaf: Leaf with colors other than green, white or cream. See variegated.

Compost: A mixture of peat or loam with other ingredients which supports plant roots in a pot.

Crown: Upper part of root often projecting from the surface of soil.

Cutting: A leaf or a stem which is used to propagate a plant.

Dormant Period: When plant naturally stops growing, usually in winter. Leaves may fall and top growth dies down.

Exotic: An unusual and/or striking plant or flower.

Fi Hybrid: Product of two pure bred plants, but itself produces no seed.

Fertilizer: Chemical substances used to stimulate and sustain plant growth.

Flower spike: Stem on which flowers grow.

Foliar: Relating to leaves as in foliar feed which is absorbed through the leaves of a plant.

Forcing: Making plants flower earlier than would occur naturally.

Frond: The leaf of a palm.

Fungicide: Chemical used to kill diseases caused by fungi.

Germination: When bulbs or seeds start to grow.

Growing point: The tip of a stem from which upward growth occurs. Growing season Period when plants start to grow again, usually from March to October.

Honeydew: A sweet, clear nectar produced by some plants.

Humidity: Moisture in atmosphere.

Hybrid: Plant produced by two parents of different varieties.

Hygrometer: An Instrument which measures the amount of water in the air.

Inorganic: Term often applied to fertilizer or other chemicals to mean a substance derived from a source which has never been alive. e.g. minerals.

Lateral: stems Branches growing out sideways from main stem.

Leaf node: The point where leaf joins stem. Loam Soil which contains clay, sand and rotted vegetable matter.

Micro-climate: Climate produced by plants growing close together. Misting Very fine water spray. Mutated Branched.

Offshoots: Small plants produced by mother plant.

Organic: Term often applied to fertilizer or other chemicals to mean a substance derived from a source which has been alive, e.g. rotted vegetable matter

Osmosis: The tendency of water to pass through a fine membrane.

Peat: Partly decomposed vegetable matter used in composts as it retains moisture.

Pesticide: A chemical used to kill pests.

Pinch out: To remove the growing point of a stem to encourage the plant to become bushy or to flower.

Plantlet: A small plant.

Plunging: Watering a plant by placing it up to its rim in water.

Pot-bound: When a pot is too small to allow a plant’s roots to grow.

Resting period: Time when plant growth stops, but leaves do not fall. See dormant.

Rosette: Collection of leaves shaped like a rose.

Rootball: Collection of fine roots around main central root.

Sap: Vital liquid circulating in plants.

Secondary leaves: Leaves which appear on a seedling after the first set of leaves.

Sharp sand: An ingredient of compost; feels coarse to the touch.

Shrub: Woody plant (smaller than a tree) with branches that divide near the ground and no central stem.

Spadix: Spike carrying both male and female flowers.

Specimen plant: A single large plant which provides a focal point for a room.

Sphagnum moss: A water-retaining moss which grows easily. Used for hanging baskets and for orchids.

Spore: A tiny cell-like seed from which plants like ferns grow.

Succulent: A plant with thick, fleshy leaves and stem which store water.

Systemic: A fertilizer or pesticide absorbed into a plant through the leaves or roots.

Top dressing: Covering the top of a potted plant’s soil with fresh compost.

Variegated: Leaf which is green with white, cream or yellow blotches, or edges on it.

Ventilate: Expose to the air.