1.4 Plant growth terms (Botanical & Horticultural) Flashcards
Botanical annual definition
Completes its life cycle in one year or season
Always herbaceous
Botanical ephemeral definition
Completes several life cycles in one year or season
Makes ideal weed
Botanical biennial definition
Completes its life cycle in two years or seasons
Grows vegetatively in first year and produces flowers and seeds in second year, before dying.
Botanical perennial definition
Has a life cycle which lasts longer than two years
Most flower each year, building up reserves of energy during growing season
Woody or herbaceous
Horticultural annual definition
A botanical biennial or perennial that is used in the garden as an annual
e.g. plant doesn’t look its best after first year, or crops are harvested after one year
Horticultural biennial definition
A botanical perennial that is used in the garden for just two years (after which it looks leggy/straggly)
Horticultural perennial definition
NON-woody plant that lives and flowers each year, bringing interest to a garden
Short-lived or long-lived
“Herbaceous perennials” die back over winter
“Perennials” retain their leaves over winter
Botanical herbaceous definition
Do not develop true wood
Deciduous herbaceous die back over winter and live underground as bulbs, corms, rhizomes, rootstocks etc.
Evergreen herbaceous do not die back and keep leaves all year round.
Botanical woody definition
Plant with secondary growth (thickening) which produces wood in stems and roots
Includes small shrubs and huge trees
Wood consists of xylem - dead cells - the lignin allows for strength for huge growth
Botanical evergreen definition
A plant which never, or rarely loses its leaves, even in harsh conditions
Botanical semi-evergreen definition
A plant which loses its leaves in the harshest of conditions
Botanical tender perennial definition
Plant cannot survive frost (less than 5 deg C)
Botanical half-hardy annual definition
Plant sown under protection early in the season, then planted out (cannot survive less than -5 deg C)
Botanical hardy annual definition
Plant sown in situ (can survive -5 deg C or even lower)
Tree definition
Woody plants that can support themselves.
One or only a few main stems.
Can grow very tall.
