Acaricide A pesticide used to control mites.

Acid (of soil) With a pH value of less than 7. Any substance that breaks down in water to leave a sour corrosive solution. Acid soil is the chemical opposite of alkaline soil.

Adventitious Arising from places where growths do not normally occur; for example, adventitious roots may arise from stems.

Aerate (of soil) Loosen by mechanical means in order to allow air (oxygen and carbon dioxide) to enter: for example, using a spiked roller to aerate a lawn.

Aerial root A plant root growing above ground to provide anchorage and, on an epiphyte, to absorb atmospheric moisture.

Alkaline (of soil) With a pH value of more than 7. An alkali is a mineral salt that occurs in dry or arid soils. Alkaline is used to describe such soils. The term comes from chemistry, where an alkali forms a soluble base or solution of a base (a base being a chemical compound).

Allelopathic The deleterious interaction between two organisms or cell types. Allelopathy is seen between different species of plant.

Alpine A plant that grows above the tree line in mountainous regions; loosely applied to rock garden plants that may be grown at relatively low altitudes.

Alpine house An unheated, well-ventilated greenhouse used for cultivating alpine and bulbous plants.

Alternate (of leaves) Occurring successively at different levels on opposite sides of a stem.

Anemone-centred (of flowers) Flowers or flowerheads in which the central petals or flowers (modified stamens form a cushion-like mound and the outer rim of petals or ray florets are flat and spreading, as in some chrysanthemums).

Annual A plant that completes its life cycle (germination-flowering-seeding-dying) in one growing season (see also Biennial, Perennial).

Anther The part of a stamen that produces pollen: usually borne on a filament.

Arbour A leafy glade or bower shaded by trees, vines or shrubs (see also Bower).

Aquatic Any plant that grows in water; it may be free-floating, totally submerged, or rooted on the pond bottom with leaves and flowers above the water surface.

Asclepiad A member of the family Asclepiadaceae

Asexual reproduction A form of reproduction not involving fertilisation and in propagation often involving mechanical methods.

Auxins Naturally occurring or artificially synthesised plant growth substances controlling shoot growth, root formation, and other physiological processes in plants.

Awn A sharp point or bristle, commonly found on a glume of a grass inflorescence.

Axil The upper angle between a leaf and a stem, between a main stem and a lateral branch, or between a stem and a bract.

 

 

 

Art from Telephones and their Cable

A new slant to the meaning of the word communication!