|  Gardening
Glossary: S - W
Gardening terms can be difficult to understand
and can make reading books or articles on the subject less
informative than they would be otherwise. When you find
a term you don't understand, look it up in this glossary.
Let me know if you come across any term that doesn't appear
here and I will add it.
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Sap:
The equivalent of blood in a plant that can be found in
the stems, branches and leaves.
Self
Pollination: The transfer of pollen within the
same flower to fertilise it.
Self Seed:
Plants releasing seeds spontaneously which grow into new
plants.
Semi-Ripe Cutting:
A cutting
from wood that is half ripened.
Sepals:
These form the calyx and are
the green petal like covering of the flowerbud before it
opens.
Set: The
small onions or potatoes used for planting to produce a
crop.
Sheet Mulch:
Using plastic sheeting or similar to to cover ground to
retain moisture and suppress weeds - see mulch.
Shrub: A
woody plant that doesn't have a single trunk and whose branches
originate from or near the base.
Softwood
Cutting: A
cutting from immature
wood.
Spathe:
A modified leaf or bract enclosing a flower spike.
Species:
Part of the plant classification system. This is used to
describe closely related plants. See also genus
and family.
Spit:
The depth of one spade's blade.
Spore: The
reproductive equivalent of a seed produced by ferns, fungi
and mosses.
Sport:
See mutation.
Stamen:
The male reproductive organ of a flower where the anther
maybe found.
Standard:
A plant, eg fuchsia, that is trained to grow a single stem
for one or more feet in height before being allowed tor
branch out and form leaves and flowers.
Stem Cutting:
A cutting taken from any part of
the stem.
Stem Tip Cutting:
A cutting
taken from the growing tip of a shoot.
Stigma:
On the female organ, this is where the pollen
is received.
Stolon:
Sometimes confused with runner, this
horizontally growing stem roots at its tip, not its nodes.
Subsoil:
The usually less fertile soil below the topsoil.
Succulent:
Plants like cacti with fleshy leaves and stems adapted to
retain water.
Sucker:
A shoot coming from the roots to produce a new plant, eg
lilac. On a grafted plant, it refers
to a shoot coming from below the graft and so will produce
a plant from the original rootstock.
Systemic:
A chemical pesticide, herbicide or fungicide which works
by being absorbed into all parts of the plant, pest or fungi.
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Tap Root:
The main root growing vertically into the soil.
Tender:
A plant that has no resistance to frost.
Tendril:
A thin, long stem used for attaching to nearby branches,
trellis, fences, etc.
Terminal:
The flower or bud at the end of a branch or stem.
Thin:
To reduce the number of seedlings or young plants to give
the remainder room to grow.
Top Dressing: Applying
compost or fertiliser to the soil around plants.
Topiary:
Clipping shrubs, hedges, etc, into decorative shapes.
Topsoil:
The usually more fertile top layer of soil - see subsoil.
Transpiration:
Water loss through a plant's pores in leaves and stems.
Tree: A
woody plant usually with a clearly defined trunk with branches
above.
Tuber:
Like a bulb and a rhizome,
this is a modified stem, or sometimes a root, that provides
storage for a plant.
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Underplanting:
The practice of planting low growing plants beneath taller
ones.
Variegated:
A leaf showing a variety of colours.
Vegetative
Propagation:
Making new plants asexually, usually
by taking cuttings or layering,
etc.
Vermiculite:
Expanded mica mixed with compost for cuttings to help retain
water and give a good air supply.
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Weed:
This is really any plant that is growing where the gardener
doesn't want it, usually applied to naturally occuring wild
plants.
Whorl: Three
or more leaves, etc, arising from one place.
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