Nutrients and Terms Flashcards
Macronutrients
Mg K Ca N P S - Mag’s Kools Cause Neo-Plastic Surgery
Micronutrients
Fe Al Cu Zn Mo B Mn - Fear Al’s Couzin Moby Man
abscisic acid
A growth-inhibiting hormone
abscission
The dropping of leaves, flowers, or fruit by a plant. This can result from natural growth processes (e.g., fruit ripening) or from external factors such as temperature or chemicals.
abscission layer
Specialized cells, usually at the base of a leaf stalk or fruit stem, that trigger both the separation of the leaf or fruit and the development of scar tissue to protect the plant
actinomorphic flower
A flower possessing radial symmetry. Any cut through the center divides the flower into two equal parts.
adjuvant
A substance that, when added to a pesticide, reduces the surface tension between two unlike materials (e.g., spray droplets and a plant surface), thus improving adherence. Also called surfactant. Check out the adjuvant, Dutch Master Penetrator.
adventitious
Growth not ordinarily expected, usually the result of stress or injury. A plant’s normal growth comes from meristematic tissue, but adventitious growth comes from nonmeristematic tissue.
adventitious bud
A bud in an unusual place on a plant, often on an internode. This may be the result of an injury. Suckers and water sprouts usually grow from adventitious buds.
adventitious root
A root in an unusual place, often where a branch contacts soil or damp material. A plant can not be reproduced from cuttings or layering unless adventitious roots develop.
after-ripening
The seed maturation process that must be completed before germination can occur.
aggergate fruit
A group of small fruits derived from several ovaries within a single flower.
aggregation
The process by which individual particles of sand, silt and clay cluster and bind together to form soil peds.
alkaline
Refers to medium or nutrient solution with a high pH; any pH over 7 is considered alkaline.
alkaline soil
Soil with a pH above 7 on a pH scale of 0 to 14. The higher the reading, the more alkaline the soil. See pH.
alkaloid
A nitrogen-containing compound frequently used as a chemical defense by plants.
allele
Different forms of the same gene; allele “A” may produce a tall plant, while allele “a” gives a short plant.
allelopathy
The excretion by some plants of compounds from their leaves and/or roots that inhibit the growth of other plants.
ammonium (NH4+)
The excretion by some plants of compounds from their leaves and/or roots that inhibit the growth of other plants
anaerobic
Active in the absence of free oxygen.
angiosperm
A member of a class of plants characterized by the formation of flowers and seeds in fruits.
anion
A negatively charged ion. Plant nutrient examples include nitrate (NO3-), phosphate (H2PO4-), and sulfate (SO42-).
annual
A plant that completes its life cycle in one growing season.
annual ring
A cylinder of secondary xylem added to the wood in a single growing season.
antagonism
The effect of a deficiency or toxicity of an element that restricts or interferes with the uptake.
anther
The pollen-bearing part of a flower’s male sexual organ. The filament supports the anther; together they are referred to as the stamen.
anthocyanin
A blue, violet, or red flavonoid pigment found in plants.
apex
The tip of a stem or root.
apical bud
A bud at the tip of a stem.
apical dominance
The inhibition of lateral bud growth by the presence of the hormone auxin in a plant’s terminal bud. Removing the growing tip removes auxin and promotes lateral bud break and subsequent branching, usually directly below the cut.
apical meristem
A region of actively dividing cells at the tip of a growing stem or root.
arboretum
An area devoted to specimen plantings of trees and shrubs.
aspect
Direction of exposure to sunlight.
assimilation
The building of cell matter from inorganic and organic materials (carbohydrates and sugars).
autotrophic nutrition
A form of nutrition in which complex food molecules are produced by photosynthesis from carbon dioxide, water, and minerals.
auxin
One of the best known and most important plant hormones. Most abundantly produced in a plant’s actively growing tips. Generally stimulates growth by cell division in the tip region and by cell elongation lower down the shoot. Growth of lateral buds is strongly inhibited by the normal concentration of auxin in the growing tip.
axil
The upper angle formed by a leaf’s stalk (petiole) and the internodes above it on a stem.
axillary bud
A bud that forms on an axil.
axillary bud primordium
An immature axillary bud.
