Glossary of Gardening Terms

Index S

Sac:
   Space or chamber inside an ovary, anther or fruit.
Sagittate:
   Arrow-shaped.
Salverform:
   Describes a flower with a long, slim, tubular corolla that spreads out into more or less horizontal, flat lobes.
Sandy:
   Describes dry, light, free-draining soil, low in nutrients, derived from quartz or sandstone.
Salad crop:
   Any vegetable crop in which leaves, or other plant parts are eaten raw in salads. (e.g., lettuce, radish, celery, etc.)
Samara:
   A simple dry single-seeded fruit with the pericarp extended into a wing which aids in dispersal.
Sap:
   Juice that flows through conductive tissue of vascular plants.
Sapling:
   Young tree.
Saprophyte:
   Plant, usually lacking in chlorophyll, that absorbs nutrients from dead or decaying organic matter.
Saxicolous:
   (see Lithphytic)
Scale:
  

Flat , membranous structure.

Dry leaf or bract, usually pressed flat to the axis to which it is attached.
Scalloped:
   (crenate) Refers to a margin, generally of a leaf, with shallow, rounded teeth.
Scandent:
   Describes a plant that climbs by means of flexible stems that grow over or through supports, attaching themselves loosely, if at all.
Scape:
   Peduncle of inflorescence arising directly from root, as in primrose.

Scarify:

Scarification:

  

Any physical abrasion applied to a hard seed coat to permit better water and gas entry into the seed.

Removal of moss and old grass from a lawn by raking.
Scion:
   A small shoot that is attached to another plant by grafting.
Secondary growth:
  Lateral growth resulting from cell divisions in the cambium leading to increased girth of stems.
Sedative:
   Substance with soothing properties.
Scree:
  

Slope of unstable, rocky fragments, retaining little moisture, at the bottom of a cliff.

In gardens, a deep layer of stone chippings with a small proportion of loam, providing very sharp drainage for alpines and rock plants.
Scrub:
   Habitat with poor or dry soil, covered with bushes and small trees.
Seed:
  The mature ovule of a flowering plant containing a mature embryo.
Seedbed:
   Area of ground that has been dug over, raked and firmed in preparation for sowing seeds.
Seedcoat:
   Outer casing of seed.
Seed Compost:
   Fine-textured, low-nutrient, moisture-retentive compost, formulated for the healthy germination and development of seeds and seedlings; also used for rooting cuttings.
Seed Head:
   Refers to dry fruits (capsule).
Seed leaf;
   (coryledon) First leaf, pair of leaves, or occasionally, group of leaves produced by a seed during germination.
Seedling:
   Young plant raised from seed.
Segment:
  

Subdivision of pinna on a pinnate leaf or frond, botanically known as pinnule.

Any division of an organ, such as the lobe of a leaf.

Self:

Self-coloured:

   Describes a flower with a uniform colour.
Self Fertile:
   (self-setting) Describes a plant that does not need pollen from a second individual in order to fertilise and set fruit.
Self-incompatible:
   The condition of plants which cannot be fertilised by their own pollen or the pollen of a genetic clone.
Self-pollinate:
   The condition of plants which can be fertilised by their own pollen, or the pollen of a genetic clone.
Self-Seed:
   To regenerate from seed that s dispersed in the garden without human intervention.
Self-sterile:
   Describes a plant that requires pollen from a second individual of the species, but not the same clone, in order to fertilise its flowers.
Semi-deciduous:
   (see Semi-evergreen.)
Semi-double:
   Flower with 2 or 3 times the number of petals of a single flower, usually arranged in 2 or 3 rows.
Semi-evergreen:
   Plant that retains most or some of its foliage throughout the year.
Semi-hardy:
  Perennial species usually native to warmer temperate climates that are able to survive mild prairie winters, but may be damaged by exceptionally cold winters.
Semi-ripe cuttings:
   Cutting taken from semi-mature wood in mid- late summer or occasionally in early autumn.
Semi-ripe wood:
   Stems or shoots that have slowed down in growth and become semi-woody.
Sepal:
  The outermost floral parts, often serving a protective role for flowers in the bud.
Series:
   Name applied to a group of cultivars of annuals that share most of the same characteristics but differ from one another by one character, usually colour.
Serrate:
   Leaves with toothed, saw-like margins.
Serrulate:
   Finely serrated.
Sessile:
   A description of any plant part which attached directly to a shoot, rather than being attached by any type of stalk.
Set:
   Fertilised flowers that have developed into fruit.
Setaceous:
   Bristly.
Sharp Drainage:
   Very free movement of excess water through the soil.
Sheath:
  The part of a grass leaf which encircles the stem directly above its node of attachment.
Shoot:
  

First erect growth of a seedling before it becomes a stem.

Side growths, twigs or branches.
Shoot-tip:
   Growing point.
Shrub:
   Woody plant branching near the ground.
Shrub Border:
   Area of ground set aside for the cultivation of shrubs.
Side-Shot:
   Lateral shoot that develops from the side of a main shoot.
Silicula:
   A short broadened form of siliqua.
Siliqua:
   Two valved fruit, divided internally by a re-plum, which dehisces from the base upwards.
Silique:
   A simple dry dehiscent fruit which splits from base to apex when mature. This type of fruit is found only on members of the cabbage family.
Silt:
   Moderately fertile, moisture-retentive soil, prone to compaction and surface capping. Has finer soil particles than clay.
Simple:
   Not divided into secondary units.
Single:
   Flower with the normal number of petals or tepals for the species, arranged in a single whorl.
Simple fruit:
  A fruit formed from a single pistil.
Sinuate:
   Wavy-edged.
Sinus:
   Deep cleft between 2 lobes.
Soft-stemmed:
   With a non-woody stem.
Softwood:
   Young, soft, unripened shoots of woody plants.
Softwood Cutting:
   Cutting taken from young, non-woody growth, from spring to early summer.
Soils:
  

Acidic (clay types)

Calcareous (chalky)

Fibrous

Peaty (acid)

Sandy (light)
Soilless Medium:
   Growing medium based on substances other than soil. (clay granules, Perlite, vermiculite, etc.)
Solitary:
   Flower borne singly rather than in an inflorescence.
Sorus:
   Cluster of sporangia usually found on the underside of a fern frond.
Spadix:
   Spike of flowers closely arranged on fleshy axil, enclosed in a spather.
Spathe:
   A Large sheathlike bract surrounding an inflorescence.
Spathulate:
   Broad and surrounded, spoon-shaped.
Species:
   A group of similar organisms within the same genus which are usually capable of interbreeding, and are distinctly different from other members of the genus.
Specific epithet:
  The second word in a binomial Latin name. The name that indicates the species within a genus.
Specimen Plant:
   Ornamental plant, normally a tree or shrub, grown in a prominent position, to show it off at its best.
Speculum:
   Glossy raised area, varying from square to diamond or horseshoe shape, on the lip of some orchids.
Sphagnum:
   Genus of mosses which, when decomposed in bog conditions, is called sphagnum (or moss) peat. In fresh form it is used to line hanging baskets, or, finely chopped, added to orchid compost.
Spike:
   An unbranched inflorescence with sessile flowers.
Spikelet:
   The unit of a grass inflorescence enclosed by glumes.
Spine:
   A leaf or leaf part which has been modified to serve in protection, and to reduce water loss.
Spore:
   A reproductive cell that develops into another plant without union with another cell.
Sporangium:
   Spore producing organ on the underside of the fronds of all ferns.
Sporeling:
   Young plant raised from a spore.
Sport:
   (mutation) Natural or induced genetic change, often exhibited as a variegated shoot or flower from the parent plant. Sports can be vegetatively propagated to give rise to new cultivars.
Spray:
   Cluster of flowers or flowerheads arranged on a single, branched stem.
Spread:
   Measure of an individual plants horizontal growth.
Spur:
   A small lateral stem on a woody plant that has very short internodes. Spurs are often modified for fruit production.
Staking:
   The practice of driving a stake into the ground next to, and as a support for a plant. When attaching the plant to the stake, be sure that it is tied loosely so it doesn't strangle the stem. When staking a potted plant, the stake should be set into the planter before the plant is added.
Stalk:
   Stem-like organ joining a leaf , flower, flowerhead or inflorescence to the stem of a plant.
Stamen:
  The male parts of the flower on which pollen is produced.

Staminode:

Staminate:

   Sterile stamen.
Standard:
  

Upper perianth segments of iris flower.

Tree or shrub trained to form a round head of branches at the top of a clear stem.
Starch:
  The most abundant storage form for carbohydrate found in plants, made of many thousands of glucose molecules linked in long chains.
Stellate:
   Star-shaped.
Stem:
   Main stalk of a plant, usually above ground and supporting leaves and flowers.
Stem Cutting:
   Method of propagation using a cut shoot which is placed in moistened soil to induce root formation.
Sterile:
   Incapable of reproduction.
Stigma:
   The sticky region at the top of the pistil where pollen is collected.
Stilt-root:
   Stabilising, obliquely angled, adventitious root produced from the trunks of trees adapted to shallow or waterlogged soil.
Stimulant:
   That which excites or produces a transient increase of energy.
Stipe:
   Stalk of ferns or palms.
Stipule:
   A leaf-like basal appendage of a petiole.
Stock:
   Established root-base of host plant into which scion or grafting slip is inserted in propagation.
Stolon:
  An aboveground horizontal stem which may produce adventitious roots and new plants at nodes.

Stomata:

Stomate:

   Small openings, usually found in the undersurface of a leaf which permit air exchange, and the escape of water vapour from the interior of the leaf. Stomates are opened and closed through the action of guard cells.
Stone fruit:
  Any fruit in the genus Prunus, where the botanical type of fruit is a drupe. The name is due to the stony endocarp which surrounds the seed. (e.g., peach, plum, cherry and almond)
Stool:
   (see coppice)
Stop:
   (See pinch out)
Stratification:
   A means of overcoming internal seed dormancy by exposing moist seed to a period of chilling temperatures.
Strobilus:
   Reproductive organ of a conifer. Male resemble catkins, female resemble mature cones in miniature.
Style:
   The narrow region of the pistil between the ovary and the stigma.
Sub-alpine:
   Applied to mountain areas between the foothills and the alpine slopes.
Submerged aquatic:
   Plant that remains totally submerged below the water.
Subsoil:
   Layer of soil below the topsoil, usually less fertile and of poor structure.
Subspecies:
   Category of plant classification, below species but higher in rank than varietas or forma.
Subtropical:
   refers to the high-temperature zone located between tropical and temperate regions. Rainfall occurs mainly as heavy downpours during the monsoon season.
Subulate:
   Awl-shaped.
Succulent:
   A juicy, fleshy plant.
Sucker:
  An adventitious shoot produced from a root.
Sudorific:
   Inducing sweat production.
Supercooling:
  The cooling of absolutely pure water below 0_C without the formation of ice by prevention of the initial nucleation of ice.
Superior ovary:
   Hypogynous. The condition where floral parts appear to arise below the ovary.
Surface-capping:
   When the soil surface bakes dry in summer, especially on clay and silt soils, resulting in poor aeration.
Surfactant:
  Any chemical substance such as a soap which reduces the surface tension of water, permitting it to cling more closely to surfaces.
Swamp:
   Spongy, waterlogged habitat.
Symbiosis:
  A mutually beneficial relationship between two organisms.
Sympodial:
   Form of growth in which the terminal bud dies or ends in an inflorescence, and continues from lateral buds.
Synonym:
   Name or epiphet that is not the accepted one for the plant.
Systemic:
   A chemical which is absorbed directly into a plants system to either kill feeding insects on the plant, or to kill the plant itself.

Last updated 10 March, 2002
© copyright 1999, P. A. Owen