R2101 1.4 Define a range of botanical and horticultural terms Flashcards
What is an Ephemeral?
Plant thas has several lifecycles within a growing season
What is an annual?
Plants whose entire lifecycle takes place within one year
What is a biennial?
Life cycle spans twe seasons
1st year - leafy growth
2n year - seeds
What is perennial?
2 years+
3 types of perennial
- Tender perennial - cannot survive UK winters
- Woody perennial - tough stems above ground which survive year after year
- Herbaceous perennial - non-woody plant that dies back to ground level and grows from buds at the base the following year
2 examples of trees
Fagus sylvatica
Betula pendula
2 types of shrub
Mahonia japonica
Fatsia japonica
Perennial as biennial and true biennial examples
True biennial - Dipsacus fullonum (teasel)
Perennial used as biennial - Erysimum Cheirii (wallflower)
3 types of Perennial
- Tender Perennial
- Woody Perennial
- Herbaceous Perennial
What is a tender Perennial?
Cannot survive UK winters
What is a woody perennial?
Has tough stems above the ground which survive year after year
What is a herbaceous perennial?
Non-woody plant that dies back to ground level and grows from buds at the base the following year
What is a tree?
- Woody perennial
- Usually a main stem or trunk up to about 2 metres+ with branched above
- Broadleaved
- Mostly deciduous
What is a conifer?
- Woody perennial
- Usually have a central stem or trunk but branches often start at the base
- Botanically different - not angiosperms
- Leaves are needles or flat scales
- Seeds held in open case, not enclosed
- Mainly evergreen, some deciduous
What is a shrub?
- Woody perennial
- Generally shorter than trees
- Short main stems or multiple stems at ground level
- Evergreen or deciduous
3 main types of herbaceous plants
- Evergreen perennial (some grasses)
- Non-evergreen perennial (corms, tubers, bulbs)
- Sub-shrub (herbs) e.g. Rosmarinus officinalis
What is a herbaceous evergreen perennial?
No woody framework, but keeps some leaves above ground through the winter months
What is a non-evergreen perennial herbaceous plant?
No woody framework and lose their leaves in winter dying back to a crown of dormant buds at ground level or to an underground storage organ which holds food for next seasons growth
What is a sub-shrub?
Plants which have a woody base and a herbaceous top which die right back in winter to the ground or keep woody framework in mild years
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)
Importance of life cycle on horticulture?
What is grown, and when; what is available to the customer.
• Prices. Mature plants more expensive. Seed is cheap compared to 3L container grown stock.
• Nurseries may specialise in different stock and become experts at particular stages of the plant life cycle in terms of propagation.
• It is important to know about plant life cycles when using different types of planting schemes.
