A horizon (n.): The soil horizon below the O horizon and above the B horizon.  In this layer, humus and other organic materials are mixed with mineral particles, while finer particles and soluble substances are washed out.

Abaxial (Adj.): (L. ab, from; axis, axle) that surface of any structure which is remote or turned away from the axis, such as the lower surface of a leaf.

Abbreviatus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): short.

Abiotic: Relating to things that are not alive.  Used to describe the physical attributes of a land-use system (for example, soil, climate).

Acaulescent (Adj.): (Gr. a, without; kaulos, stalk) having no stem or seemingly without a stem.

Acaulescent (Adj.): Leafless.

Acceptable Name : An established name that is not a (non-conserved) later homonym and thus may potentially be an accepted name.

Accepted Name : The name that must be adopted for a taxon under this code.

Accessory Flower Parts: sepal and petal organs found on flowers.  The sepals and petals are not essential for pollination but may aid in attracting insects or other organisms.

Achene (N.): (Gr. a, not; chainein, to gape) any small, dry fruit with one seed whose outer covering (pericarp) does not burst when ripe.  A small, dry, one-seeded fruit that does not split open; from an ovary with a single chamber.

Acicular (Adj.): (L. acicula, a small needle) slender and pointed; needle-like and with a sharp point.

Acicular: Needle-like.

Acid Rain (N.): Sulfur and nitrogen oxides (released into the atmosphere by heavy industry and auto emissions) transform into acids, which fall to earth in rain and snow.

Acid Soil: Soil with a pH of <7.0.

Acorn (N.): The fruit of an oak; A one-seed nut fixed in a woody cup.

Acropetal (Adj.): (Gr. akros, summit; L. petere, to seek) developing upward from the base toward the apex.

Actinomorphic (Adj.): (Gr. aktis, ray; morphe, form) descriptive of a flower or set of flower parts which can be cut through the center into equal and similar parts along two or more planes; having radial symmetry.

Active Layer (N.): Upper zone of soil that (in higher latitudes) experiences daily and seasonal freeze and thaw.

Aculeus (N.): (L. aculeus, prickle) a prickle growing from bark.  pL. aculei.

Acumen (N.): (L. acumen, a point, a sting) the point of an acuminate leaf.

Acuminate (Adj.): drawn out into a long point; tapering point.

Acuminatus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): long tapering point.

Acute (Adj.): (L. acutus, sharpened) sharp at the end; ending in a sharp point.

Acutifolius (Used in Bonsai – Latin): with sharp leaves.

Acyclic (Adj.): Having floral parts that are arranged spirally (instead of in whorls).

Adaxial (Adj.): (L. ad, to; axis, axle) pertaining to the side of an organ toward the axis, such as the upper surface of a leaf.

Adiabatic (Adj.): A process where no heat enters or leaves the system.  In the atmospherie, when air rises, it expands because of a reduction in pressure.  In the absence of non-adiabatic processes (condensation, evaporation, radiation), expansion causes the air to cool at about 1 degree per 300 feet.

Adnate (Adj.): (L. adnatus, to be born, to grow to) fusion of unlike structures or parts.

Adpressus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): pressed together, pressed against.

Adscendens (Used in Bonsai – Latin): going up.

Adventitious (Adj.): (L. adventitius, extraneous) plant structures or tissue occurring in an abnormal positon.

Adventive (Adj.): (L. advenire, to arrive) a plant that is not native to the environment.

Aerenchyma (N.): (Gr. aer, air; enchyma, an infusion) parenchyma tissue with large and abundant intercellular air spaces; air-storing tissue; resembles the tissue of cork.

Aerius (Used in Bonsai – Latin): of the air, as air-roots.

Aerobic (Adj.): Able to live only in the presence of free oxygen.

Affinus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): related, with an affinity.

Afforestation : 1.  Conversion of bare land into forest land by planting of forest trees.  2.  The planting of a forest crop on land that has not previously, or not recently, carried a forest crop.

Africanus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): from Africa.

Aggregate (Adj.): (L. ad, to; gregare, to collect into a flock) crowded into a cluster; a number of separate fruits from a single flower aggregated together; an aggregate flower is formed by a cluster of carples.

Agrarian Policy: A policy concerned with the land or landed properties.

Agricultural System: A system with agricultural outputs and containing all the major components.

Agroecological Zone : 1.  A major area of land that is broadly homogeneous in climatic and edaphic factors, but not necessarily contiguous, where a specific crop exhibits roughly the same biological expression.  2.  Zones of similar agricultural performance as defined by soil and climate.

Agroecosystem: The collection of physical, environmental, economic and social factors that affect a cropping enterprise.

Agroforestry System: A land-use system in which woody perennials (trees, shrubs, palms, bamboos) are deliberately used on the same land management unit as agricultural crops (woody or not), animals or both, either in some form of spatial arrangement or temporal sequence.  In agroforestry systems there are both ecological and economic interactions between the different components.

Agronomy: That part of agriculture devoted to the production of crops and the management of the soil on which they are grown.  The scientific utilization of agricultural land.

Agropastoral System: A land-use system in which crops and livestock (but not trees) are the only components.

Agrosilvicultural System: An agroforestry system for the concurrent production of agricultural crops (including woody perennial crops) and forest crops.  The forest crops serve in either a productive or a service role.  Woody perennial and agricultural crops are chosen first for their productive capacity.

Agrosilvipastoral System: Any agroforestry system that includes trees or shrubs and herbaceous food crops and pastures and animals.

Akene (N.): A small, hard, indehiscent one-seeded fruit from a 1-chambered ovary.  Often it appears as a naked seed, such as a sunflower seed.

Alate (Adj.): Having wings or wing-like structures.

Alatus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): winged.

Albescens (Used in Bonsai – Latin): pale, whitish.

Albidus, Albus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): white.

Albiflorus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): with white flowers.

Alien Species (N.): A species that is not native to (i.e., not found in, unless imposed by humans) a region.

Alkaline (Adj.): Soils that are basic rather than acidic with a PH value greater than 7.0.  They contain large amounts of salts of sodium and potassium, and other soluble minerals.

Allele (N.): (Gr. allelon, one another) one of a pair or more of alternative hereditary characters; a gene which can occupy the same locus as another gene in a particular chromosome.

Allelochemicals: compounds that have an allelopathic effect.

Allelopathic (Adj.): Producing chemical compounds that inhibit the growth of other plants close by.

Allelopathy (N.): (Gr. allelon, one another; pathos, suffering) the influence or effect of one living plant upon another; refers to biochemical interaction between all types of plants and its effect depends on a chemical compound being added to the environment.

Alley Cropping: An agroforestry intercropping system in which species of shrubs or trees are planted at spacings relatively close within row and wide between row, to leave room for herbaceous cropping between, that is, in the 'alleys' (syn: hedgerow intercropping).

Alpine Zone (N.): The region above timber line.  Grassy slopes (moss and lichens at higher elevations) and tundra vegetation.

Alpinus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): of the alpines, mountains.

Alt.  Trachea.  :.

Alternate (Adj.): (L. alteratus, one after another) said of leaves occurring one at a node; said also of members of adjacent whorls in the flower when any member of one whorl is in front of or behind the junction of two adjacent members of the succeeding whorL. A leaf arrangement in which the leaves along the axis are not opposite to each other and not whorled.

Alternation Of Generations: the occurrence in one life history of two or more different forms differently produced, usually an alternation of a sexual with an asexual form.

Alternative Farming: Farming not in the current, conventional manner; for example, not using fertilizers and pesticides, or by using intermediate technology and renewable energy sources.

Alternus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): alternating, usually means NOT directly opposite.

Altus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): altitude, taL.

Alveola (N.): (L. alveolus, small cavity) a pit on the surface of an organ.

Alveolate (Adj.): (L. alveolatus, pitted) deeply pitted so as to resemble a honeycomb, as are the surfaces of some seeds or achenes.

Amabilis (Used in Bonsai – Latin): pretty.

Amino Acids (N.): Synthesized by plants from nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen.  Used to construct proteins.

Amphibius (Used in Bonsai – Latin): adaptable either to land or water.

Anaerobic (Adj.): Able to live in the absence of, or not requiring, molecular oxygen.

Anaerobiosis (N.): (L. Gr. an, without; aer, air; biosis, manner of life) life in the absence of air or free oxygen; anaerobic respiration, respiration occurring in the absence of oxygen.

Anastomosis (N.): (Gr. ana, up to; stoma, mouth) connecting by cross-veins and forming a network.

Anatomy (N.): (L. anatomia, dissection) the branch of morphology that deals with the structure of plants, esp.  the internal structure as revealed by the microscope.

Ancestor : An entity from which another entity is descended.

Androecium (N.): (Gr. andros, man; oikos, house) male reproductive organs of a plant; a collective term applied to all structures of the stamen whorl or whorls.

Androecium (N.): The male home of the flower consisting of several stamens.  Usually a stamen has a thin stalk-like filament (stamen) with an enlarged end anther) where pollen is produced ("the male house").

Androgynal (Adj.): (Gr. andros, man; gonos, woman) bearing staminate and pistillate flowers on the same parent stem.

Androgynous: staminate flowers above the pistillate flowers in the same inflorescence.

Androgynous (Adj.): Having flowers with stamens and flowers with pistils in the same inflorescence.

Androphore (N.): (Gr. aner, man; phoros, carrying) a support or column, formed by fusion of filaments, on which the stamens are borne.

Anemophily (N.): (Gr. anemos, wind; philein, to love) pollination by wind.

Angiosperm (N.): A flowering plant whose seeds are enclosed in an ovary that ripens into a fruit.  Angiosperms are divided into: monocotyledons and dicotyledons.  Compare angiosperm with gymnosperm.

Angiospermae (N.): (Gr. anggeion, vessel; sperma, seed) a major division of the plant kingdom, commonly called flowering plants as their reproductive organs are in flowers, having seeds which develop in a closed ovary made of carpels, a very reduced gametophyte, and endosperm develop from a triple fusion nucleus.  pL. Angiosperms.

Angulosus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): angled, turning every which way.

Angustifolius (Used in Bonsai – Latin): with narrow leaves (seldom used, more.

Animal (N.): Multicellular organism that includes: eukaryotic cell type, mitochondria, and a complex nervous system.

Annual (Adj.): (L. annualis, yearly, from annus, year) a plant which completes its life history within a year.

Annual (N.): A plant that completes its life cycle (from germination from a seed to the production of new seeds) in one year; then it dies.

Annual Plant: A plant that completes its life cycle within one year.

Another Plant (Used in Bonsai – Latin):.

Anoxia (N.): (L. an, not; and oxygen) lack of oxygen or not enough oxygen.

Anterior (Adj.): On the front side of the plant, away from the axis.

Anther (N.): (Gr. antheros, flowery, from anthein, to bloom) the top of the stamen, usually elevated by means of a filament, which contains the pollen.

Anther (N.): The part of the stamen that develops and bears pollen.

Anthesis (N.): (Gr. anthesis, bloom, from anthein, to bloom) stage or period during which the flower bud is fully open; flowering.

Antrorse (Adj.): (L. ante, before; vertere, to turn) forward or upward.

Apetalous (Adj.): (Gr. a, without; petalon, leaf) having flowers without petals; having no corolla.

Apex: Tip; as in tips of leaves.

Apical (Adj.): (L. apex, the tip or top of a thing) at the tip or summit.  Located at the tip or apex.

Apiculate (Adj.): (L. apiculatus, point) terminated abruptly by a small, distinct point, an apiculus or apicule.

Apiculture: Beekeeping.

Apocarpous (Adj.): (Gr. apo, away; karpos, fruit) having separate carpels.

Apomixis (N.): (Gr. apo, away; mixis, a mixing) in general, reproducing without sexual reproduction; often used to denote seed production without a sexual process having been involved.

Apomorphy : A derived character state; a new feature that arose during the course of evolution.

Apomorphy-Based Clade : A clade conceptualized in terms of an apomorphy (i.e., a clade stemming from the ancestor in which a particular apomorphy originated); a clade whose name is defined using an apomorphy-based definition.

Apomorphy-Based Definition : A definition that associates a name with a clade originating with the first ancestor of specified organisms and/or species (internal specifier taxa) to evolve a particular apomorphy (internal specifier apomorphy).

Apomorphy-Modified Node-Based Definition : A node-based definition that incorporates wording from apomorphy-based definitions to include certain (usually extant) organisms as internal specifiers without explicitly naming them.  Apomorphy-modified node-based definitions can be used to associate names with crown clades when basal relationships within the crown are poorly understood or when the author intends to include in the named taxon subsequently discovered extant organisms that possess a particular apomorphy.

Apophysis: Outer portion of a cone scale which is exposed on a closed cone.

Appressed: a., adv.  (L. ad, to; pressare, to press) lying flat or close against something.  Often used for hairs.

Aquaculture: Fish farming.  In a broad sense, producing any product under water, for example, algae (seaweed), Crustaceae (shrimp).

Aquasilvicultural System: An agroforestry system that combines trees with the raising of aquatic animals.

Aquatic Plants: plants that must grow in water whether rooted in the mud or floating without anchorage; plants that must complete part or all of their life cycle in or near the water.

Aquatic Vascular Plants: aquatic plants containing the conductive vascular tissue, phloem and xylem.

Aquaticus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): of the water, water-loving.

Aquifer (N.): Sand, gravel, or porous rock through with groundwater flows.

Arable Land: Refers to land under crops, land under temporary meadows for mowing or pasture, land under market and kitchen gardens (including cultivation under glass) and land temporarily fallow or lying idle.  Hence 'arable farming'.

Arachnoid (Adj.): (Gr. arachme, spider, cobweb; eidos) like a cobweb; covered with or consisting of soft fibers or hairs so entangled as to give a cobwebby appearance.

Arborescens (Used in Bonsai – Latin): growing like a tree, woody like a tree.

Arborescent (Adj.): Similar to the size and habit of a tree.

Arboretum: A collection of specimen trees, preferably growing close to a nursery, from which seeds and cuttings can easily be gathered.

Arboriculture: A general term for the cultivation of trees.

Arctic (Or Nirval) Zone (N.): Near and above the permanent snow line.  Lichens on bare rock.  A few hardy flowing plants.

Arctic Climate (N.): No month above 10ºC.  Usually tundra.  Also see climate.

Arcuate (Adj.): (L. arcuatus, pp.  of arcuare, to arch, bend like a bow, from arcus, a bow) bent or curved in the form of a bow.

Arenatius (Used in Bonsai – Latin): found in sandy places.

Argenteus, Argentus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): silvery.

Aril (N.): (Fr.  arrile, Sp.  arillo, L. arilli, dried grapes, from aridus, dry) an additional covering that forms on some seeds after fertilization, and developing from the stalk of the ovule.

Aristate (Adj.): (L. arista, awn) awned; having an awn.

Aristatus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): bearded.

Armed: Bearing prickles, spines, or thorns.

Arrectus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): straight up, erect.

Articulate (Adj.): (L. articulatus, jointed, pp.  of articulare, to join) having joints; jointed; provided with places where separation may take place.

Ascendens (Used in Bonsai – Latin): going up, ascending.

Ascending (V.): (Fr.  scandere, to climb) rising or curving upward.

Asepalous (Adj.): (Gr. a, without; L. pelatum, petal) without sepals.

Asexual Reproduction: Propagation of plants from vegetative parts, such as stems, leaves or roots; or from modified stems such as bulbs, tubers, rhizomes and stolons.  This is accomplished without union of gametes (syn: asexual regeneration).

Asiaticus, Asiatus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): from Asia.

Atlanticus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): Atlantic.

Atmosphere (N.): The gases surrounding the earth.  From the sea level to 8 miles up is the troposphere, in which the temperature decreases with height.  Above that is the stratosphere, in which the temperature is constant.

Atropurpureus, Atropurpurea (Used in Bonsai – Latin): purple, sometimes dark red.

Atrosanguineus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): dark blood-red.

Atroviolaceus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): dark violet.

Atrovirens (Used in Bonsai – Latin): dark green.

Attenuate (Adj.): (L. attenuare, to thin) gradually narrowed to a long point at apex or base.

Augustus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): important in size or appearance, imposing.

Aurantiacus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): orange-red.

Aureus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): golden.

Auricle (N.): (L. auricle, small ear) any ear-like lobed appendages.

Austral (Adj.): Southern.  Opposite of boreal.

Aut- Or Auto-: comb.  form.  (Gr. from autos) a combining form meaning self.

Autoecology (N.): Ecology of individual organisms or species.  More simple than synecology.

Autogamous (Adj.): relating to, or reproducing by autogamy.

Autogamy (N.): (aut- + -gamy, Gr. -gamia, fr, gamos, marriage) self-fertilization, pollination of a flower by its own pollen.

Autogenic Succession (N.): Succession driven by the modification to the enviroment that the plant community itself causes.

Autotroph (N.): A "self-nourishing" organism.  Any organism that obtains its energy from simple chemical reactions.  Green plants, which make their own food through photosynthesis, are autotrophs.

Auxins: growth promoting hormones that cause cell elongation, and are responsible for many developmental responses including phototropism.

Awn (N.): (IceL. ogen, chaff) a stiff, bristlelike appendage, usually at the end of a structure.

Axil (N.): (L. axilla, armpit) the angle found between any two organs or structures.  The upper angle (or cavity) at the junction between a leaf and stem, or two other structures or organs.

Axillary (Adj.): (L. axilla, armpit) in an axil, growing in an axil, as buds.

Azureus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): light blue, azure.

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B Horizon (N.): The soil horizon below the A horizon and above the C horizon.  In this layer, clay is enriched because of being washed down from the A horizon.  Iron and aluminum oxides are similarly enriched.  (Sometimes the precipitation of iron can cause the development of a hardpan.) Calcium carbonate, calcium sulfate, and other salts also accumulate.

Babylonicus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): Babylonian, from Babylon.

Balticus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): from the Baltic.

Bamboo: A vegetation type consisting of woody graminaceous species from the subfamily Bambusoideae.  Found as dense thickets or forest in the high-altitude tropics that have only a sparse ground cover of herbs, grasses, mosses and ferns.  Sometimes also in the lowlands.

Banner (N.): The upper petal of a pea-like flower.

Barbellate (Adj.): (L. barba, beard) provided, usually laterally, with fine, short points or barbs.

Bark (N.): (ME.  barke; AS.  bare, bark or rind) the outermost covering of trees and some plants.  This is composed of the cuticle or epidermis, the outer bark or cortex, and the inner bark or fiber.

Bark (N.): The skin or covering of branches and roots of a tree.  A relatively waterproof layer that protects the tree from insects, fungus, etc., and stops it from drying out.  As the trunk grows, for many trees, the bark cracks as it expanded around the trees.

Bark: All tissue external to the vascular cambium; includes phloem and periderm.

Barrier Hedge: A hedge planted so as to prevent runoff.

Bay (N.): (Fr.  baia; L. baia, bay) a part of a sea or lake indenting the shore line; the word is often applied to very large tracts of water around which the land forms a curve, as Hudson's Bay.

Bayou (N.): (Fr.  boyau, a gut, long narrow passage) a marshy inlet or outlet of a lake, river, etc.; also a backwater.

Beak (N.): A firm and pointed terminal appendage.

Bedrock (N.): Solid, unweathered rock close to the Earth's surface.

Bengalinis (Used in Bonsai – Latin): from Bengal.

Berry (N.): (AS.  berie, berry) any fleshy simple fruit with one or more seeds and a skin, as a tomato, cranberry, banana, grape, etc.; a several-sided indehiscent fruit with a fleshy pericarp and without a stony layer surrounding the seeds.

Berry: A simple, pulpy fruit developed from a single ovary.  The fruit may contain few or many seeds, but no stones.

Biennial : 1.  A plant that ordinarily requires two years, or at least part of two seasons, with a dormant period between growth stages, to complete its life cycle.2.  A plant that flowers only in the year following that in which it germinates from seed.

Biennial (Adj.): (L. biennialis, from biennis; bis, twice, and annus, year) a plant requiring two years in which to complete its life cycle, the first year growing only vegetatively, the second flowering, fruiting, then dying.

Biennial (N.): A plant with a two-year life cycle.  Usually it grows only stems and leaves in the first year; in the second year it flowers, seeds, and dies.

Biennis (Used in Bonsai – Latin): biennial.

Bifid (Adj.): (L. bifudus, forked; from bis, twice and findere, to cleave, divide) forked; divided by a cleft.

Biflorus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): two flowered.

Bifolius (Used in Bonsai – Latin): two leaved.

Bifurcation Ratio (N.): Quantitative ratio between parts of systems that display branching.  In particular, a tree's trunk bifurcates into smaller branches, which in turn bifurcate or branch.  The ratio between the branches that are derived from a larger branch or main stem is the bifurcation ratio.

Bilateral (Adj.): (L. bilateralis; bi, two, and latus, a side) having two sides.  having two lips, as a bilabiate corolla of a flower.

Bilaterally Symmetrical: said of corolla or calyx (or flower) when divisible into equal halves in one plane only; zygomorphic.

Bilocular (Adj.): divided into two cells or compartments.

Biodiversity (N.): Biological diversity.  It includes: species diversity (that is, diverse species), genetic diversity (the genetic variability among individuals within each species), and ecosystem diversity (the variety of ecosystems).  The level of abundance of life forms co-existing in a given environment.

Biological Control : 1.  Using living organisms to reduce populations of pest organisms.2.  Any of a wide variety of substances or methods Used in pest control that emphasize the use of living organisms or products derived directly from them.

Biomass: Strictly, the quantity of biological matter present on a unit area; may be 'total' or often only 'above-ground'.  May be separated into plant and animal mass, or further divided into the mass of standing crop, or the tree portion of a stand, and then into foliage, branch, stem, flowers, and so on.

Biomass (N.): (Gr. bios, life; massein, to squeeze) weight of all living material in a unit area at an instantaneous time.  May be expressed as g/m2, mt/ha, or other similar expressions.

Biomass (N.): Total mass of a species or group of organisms in a particular habitat.

Biome (N.): A geographic region that contains a varying number of ecosystems.

Biosphere (N.): The portion of the Earth that supports life.

Biotic: The influence of animals and plants on associated plant or animal life as contrasted with climatic influences and edaphic (soil) influences.

Biotic Potential (N.): The powers of a population to increase.

Bisexual (Adj.): (L. bis, twice; sexus, sex) having both female and male reproductive organs present and functional in the same flower; hermaphrodite; amphisporangiate; said of a plant having all bisexual flowers.

Bisexual (Adj.): Has stamens and pistils.

Blade (N.): (AS.  blaed, leaf) the leaf of a plant, especially grass; the flat or expanded portion of a leaf; lamina.

Blade (N.): The expanded leaf or petal; the leaf excluding the stalk.

Block : 1.  A set of experimental units under treatment or observation, which have been grouped to minimize environmental effects or initial differences between units in respect of the variables being studied, for example, a set of contiguous or non-contiguous experimental plots initially giving the same experimental response.2.  In forestry, the primary subdivision and major territorial unit of a forest estate, generally bounded by natural features.  It is divided into compartments.

Bloom (N.): (ME.  blome, a blossom) a blossom; the flower of a plant; an expanded bud; the opening of flowers in general, leaves, flowers, or fruits.

Blossom (N.): (ME.  blossome, a flower) a flower or bloom, esp.  of a fruit bearing plant.  A state or time of flowering, literally, and figuratively.

Bog (N.): (Ir.  bogach, a bog, from GaeL. bog, soft moist) a quagmire covered with grass or other plants; wet, spongy ground; a small marsh; plant community on wet, very acid peat.

Bole : 1.  Tree stem once it has grown to substantial thickness, capable of yielding timber or large poles.2.  The trunk of a tree.  It may extend to the top of the tree as in some conifers, or it may be lost in the ramification of the crown, as in deciduous species.

Bole: The main stem or axis of a tree; merchantable portion of a tree stem.

Boreal (Adj.): Northern.  Opposite of austral.

Boreal Forest (Adj.): Forest of High to mid latitudes; dominated by coniferous forest.  Predominant tree species are spruce, fir, pine, and cedars.  Also called taiga.

Bottomland: n., lowlands along streams and rivers, usually on alluvial floodplains that are periodically flooded.

Brackish (Adj.): mixed with salt; briny.

Bract (N.): (L. bractea, a thin metal plate) a modified leaf, growing at the base or on the stalk of a flower.  It usually differs from other leaves in shape or color.

Bract (N.): A modified leaf or a reduced leaf, which appears over or under or in association with a flower cluster; the scale-like leaves of an inflorescence.  Modified leaf; bracts often subtend reproductive structures, such as a flowers or an ovuliferous cone scale.

Bracteolate (Adj.): furnished with bracteoles.

Bracteole (N.): (NL. bracteola, from L. a thin gold leaf) a small bract; especially one on a floral axis.  pL. bracteoles.

Branch (N.): (L. branca, paw) a natural division of a plant stem.

Branches (Used in Bonsai – Latin):.

Branchlet: n., a small usually terminal branch.

Breed (N.): A race or strain cultivated by humans.

Brefolius (Used in Bonsai – Latin): with short leaves.

Brevis (Used in Bonsai – Latin): short.

Brevisimus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): very short.

Brillian (Used in Bonsai – Latin): brilliant.

Bristle (N.): (AS.  bristl, byrst, a bristle) stiff, strong but slender hair or trichome.

Brittanicus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): from Britain.

Broadleaved: Trees other than conifers that have (usually but not always) flat, broad leaves.  Ovules are found in an ovary, and all reproductive organs appear in flowers.  They belong to the angiosperm group of plants.

Brown Earth (Also, Brown Forest Earth) (N.): Below a litter layer and a humus layer, this first layer of true soil is dark and humus-rich.  Such earth is usually acidic, never alkaline, and often develops over clays.  It grades into slightly lighter colored subsoils.

Browse: Leaves, small twigs and shoots of shrubs, seedling and sapling trees, and vines available for forage for livestock and wildlife.

Browsing: The feeding on the above-ground parts of trees and shrubs (buds, shoots and leaves) by livestock or wild animals.

Brunneus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): brown.

Brush : 1.  Undergrowth, often of a thicket and including the small trees and shrubs.2.  Material such as twigs cut from undergrowth.

Bud (N.): (ME.  budde; AS.  budda, beetle) a small swelling or projection on a plant, from which a shoot, cluster of leaves, or flowers develops; a rudimentary, undeveloped shoot, leaf, or flower; gemma.

Bud (N.): An undeveloped stem, branch, or shoot of a plant.  It holds undeveloped, preliminary leaves or flowers.  An embryonic shoot.

Bud Scales: Modified leaves surrounding a bud.

Buffer Zone: An area around a forest, national park, or any other conserved place that provides the local community with products that they would otherwise take from the forest, or that provides an opportunity to produce alternative products.

Bulb (N.): (Fr.  bulbe; L. bulbus; Gr. bolbos, a bulbous root) a specialized underground bud that sends down roots and consists of a very short stem covered with leafy scales or layers which store water and nutrients, the whole enclosing next year's bud.  An underground food store of a plant; derived from a shoot enclosed in thick, overlapping, leafy scales.

Bulgarius (Used in Bonsai – Latin): Bulgarian.

Bund : 1.  A barrier on the surface of the soil on sloping land to prevent runoff and soil erosion.2.  The arrangement of organic material, for example, agricultural waste or soil, in lines along the contours of a slope, to control runoff or erosion.

Bundle Scar (N.): The scar that is left on a twig after a leaf falls.

Burl (N.): A woody swelling where the stem joins the roots.

Bush : 1.  A general term for low tree–high grass vegetation occurring in semi-arid or seasonally arid regions.  Can be further described by the dominant species present, for example, 'acacia bush', 'combretum bush'.2.  A low, well-branched shrub.

Bush Fallow: The natural vegetation that arises when land is left uncultivated for some time.  Composed of small trees, shrubs, grasses (and sedges) and herbaceous plants.  Bush fallow may be grazed or browsed and firewood collected from it before it is returned to cultivation.

Buxifolius (Used in Bonsai – Latin): with leaves like a boxwood, box-leaved.

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C Horizon (N.): The soil horizon below the B horizon and above the R horizon.  This layer comprises weathered bedrock.

Caducous (Adj.): (L. caducus, falling, from cadere, to fall) said of a plant part, such as a sepal, petal, or leaf, that falls off quickly or early.

Calamifolius (Used in Bonsai – Latin): with reed-like leaves.

Californicus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): from California.

Callus (N.): (L. callus, callum, hard skin) a hard protuberance or callosity; new tissue covering a wound.

Calyx: n (Gr. kalyx, a calyx, cup) the outer covering of a flower external to the corolla, which it encloses, and consisting of a whorl of leaves, or sepals, usually of a green color and less delicate in texture than the corolla.  Protects the flower's delicate parts while the flower is in the bud.  Outermost or lowest whorl of the parts of the flower.  Contains sepals, which are usually green though sometimes petal-like.

Calyx Tube: tube formed by wholly or partially fused sepals.  Not the floral tube of an epigynous or perigynous flower.

Cambium (N.): (L. cambiare, to exchange, more at change) the layer of tissue between the bark and wood in woody plants, from which new wood and bark develops.

Cambium (N.): In exogenous plants, a layer from which bark and new wood are formed.

Cambium: Layer or zone of dividing cells that produce xylem in the inner portions of the plant, and phloem in the outer portions of the plant.  Also called vascular cambium.

Campanulate (Adj.): (Dim.  of L. campana, a bell) bell-shaped, usually applied to calyx and corolla.

Campestris (Used in Bonsai – Latin): found in fields.

Cancellate (Adj.): (L. cancellatus, pp., of cancellare, to make like a lattice) latticed, or resembling a latticed construction, usually said of a surface such as that of an achene or seed.

Candelabrum (Used in Bonsai – Latin): having the form of a candelabra.

Candicans (Used in Bonsai – Latin): white or frosty looking.

Canopy: The assemblage or volume of leaves of all ages supported by branched stems that form the photosynthetic layers of a tree or crop.

Canopy (N.): The "roof" of a forest.  The roughly continuous cover of branches and foliage formed collectively by the crowns of adjacent trees.

Canopy Drip (N.): The proportion of precipitiation (rain, snow, sleet, etc.) that falls on a plant and that the plant redirects so that it falls (usually at the edge) from its canopy.

Capillary (Adj.): (L. capillaris, from capillus, hair, from caput, head) resembling hair in the manner of growth; very slender, threadlike.

Capitate (Adj.): (L. caput, head) enlarged or swollen at tip, gathered into a mass at apex, as compound stigma; a knoblike stigma terminating a style.

Capitulum (N.): (L. capitulum, small head) an infloresence forming a head of sessile flowers or florets crowned together on a receptacle and usually surrounded by an involucre.

Capsule (N.): (L. capsula, a little chest) a case, pod, or fruit, containing seeds, spores, or carpels; it usually bursts when ripe.

Carbohydrate (N.): Synthesized by plants from carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen.  See also photosynthesis.

Carbon Cycle (N.): Carbon's movement through aquatic and terrestrial systems.  1.  Carbon is assimilated in photosynthesis and lost in respiration.  2.  Carbon dioxide is exchanged physically between the atmosphere and water (oceans, rivers, lakes).  It is very soluble in water.  About 50 times as much carbon dioxide is dissolved in the world's oceans as is contained in the atmosphere.  3.  Carbon dioxide in solution is deposited in sediments (chalk, limestone, etc.).

Carinate (Adj.): (L. carinatus, from carina, a keel) shaped like the keel of a ship; having a longitudinal prominence on the back, like a keel; applied to a calyx, corolla or leaf.

Carneus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): flesh-colored.

Carpel (N.): (Gr. karpos, fruit) a simple pistil, regarded as a modified leaf; also, any of the two or more carpels that unite to form a compound pistil; the unit of structure of the female portion of a flower.

Carpophore (N.): (Gr. karpophorus, bearing fruit; karpos, fruit, and pherein, to bear) generally the organ that supports the carpels; specifically, a very much elongated axis to which the carpels are attached.

Carrying Capacity (N.): The theoretical maximum that a population reaches, determined by the circumstances of that population.

Caryopsis (N.): (Gr. karyon, a nut, and opsis, an appearance) a small one-seeded, dry, indehiscent fruit, in which the seed adheres to the thin pericarp, so that the fruit and seed are incorporated into one body, as in wheat and other kinds of grain.

Cash Cropping: Growing crops for sale either to a market or to agents, or at the 'farm gate'.

Castanea (N.): (L., a chestnut, from Gr. kastanon) a genus of trees typified by the common chestnut.

Castaneous (Adj.): relating to or having the color of a chestnut.

Catalyst (N.): An agent that increases the rate of a chemical reaction, without being changed.  For example chlorophyll acts as a catalyst in photosynthesis.

Cataphyll (N.): (L. from cata, and -phyll) any rudimentary leaf, as a bud scale, preceding the true foliage leaves.

Cataphyllary Leaves: rudimentary or scale-like leaves which act as a covering of buds.

Categorical Rank : In the preexisting codes, a formal taxonomic rank such as family or genus.

Catitatus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): headed.

Catkin (N.): (L. a dim.  of cat, from its resemblence to a cat's tail) a scaly spike, the flowers of which are unisexual and petalless.

Catkin (N.): A deciduous spike or spikelike inflorescence of unisexual and petal-less flowers (such as walnut, willow, or birch).

Caudex (N.): (L. caudex, stem of a tree) the base of a perennial plant; the axis or stem of a woody plant, especially of a palm or tree fern.

Caulescent (Adj.): (L. caulis, a stem and -escent) having a well-developed stem above ground level.

Cauline (Adj.): (L. caulis, stalk or stem) stem.

Cellulose (N.): (Fr.  from L. cellula, dim.  of cella, a small room) the chief substance composing the cell walls or woody part of plants; a carbohydrate of unknown molecular structure but having the composition represented by the empirical formula (C6H10O5)x.

Centrum (N.): (L. from Gr. kentron, center) central portion.

Cerefolius (Used in Bonsai – Latin): with waxy leaves.

Cespitose (Adj.): growing in tufts or clumps; matted.

Chaff (N.): (AS.  ceaf, chaff) dry scales or bracts, as those on the receptacle subtending the flowers in the heads of certain Compositae.

Channeled: having a deep longitudinal groove.

Chaos (N.): Apparent disorder and confusion.  A delicate balance the forces of stability and the forces of instability.

Chartaceous (Adj.): (L. chartaceus, from charta, a leaf of paper) having the texture of thin but stiff paper.

Chasmogamy (N.): (Gr. chasma, an opening, chasm, and gamos, marriage) the opening of the perianth of a flower for the purpose of fertilization; contrast with cleistogamous.

Chlorophyll (N.): Green pigment in plants.  Contains nitrogen and magnesium, as well as carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen.  An essential catalyst in the production of carbohydrates using energy captured from light through photosynthesis.

Chlorosis (N.): (Gr. chloros, pallid) abnormal condition characterized by absence of green pigments in plants.

Choripetalous (Adj.): (Gr. choris, apart, and petalon, leaf) polypetalous; having unconnected or separate petals.

Ciliata (Adj.): (L. cilium, eyelid) with marginal hairs that form a fringe.

Circumscissile (Adj.): (L. circum, around; scindere, to cut) opening splitting by a transverse fissure around the circumference, leaving an upper and lower half; said of certain seed pods or capsules.

Clade : An ancestor (an organism, population, or species) and all of its descendants.

Class (N.): A group of plants or animals below a phylum and above an order.

Clavata (Adj.): (L. clava, a club) club-shaped; having the form of a club; growing gradually thicker toward the top, as certain parts of a plant.

Claw (N.): (AS.  clawu, a claw, hoof) the narrowed, stalklike base of some sepals or petals.

Clear Cutting : 1.  Strictly, the removal of an entire standing crop of trees.  In practice, may refer to exploitation that leaves much unsaleable material standing.  Also termed 'clear felling'.2.  An area from which the entire timber stand has been cut.  Removal of the entire stand in one cut.  Reproduction is then obtained with or without planting or artificial seeding.

Clearcut (N.): A cutting method in which trees are cleared over a considerable area at one time.  This, in effect, removes the forest community.  Regeneration can occur from natural seeding from adjacent trees, seeds in the slash or logging debris, planting or direct seeding.  Eventually, an even-aged forest can result.

Clearing: [noun] A relatively small area within a forest that has no trees.  [verb] To dispose of undergrowth and vegetational debris that is left after trees have been felled and trimmed.  Sometimes done by a burn.  Clearing is also done by removal or controlled burning around forests, villages, homes or trees to act as a firebreak.

Cleft (Adj.): (AS.  cleofan, to cut) divided halfway down to the midrib or further, or generally, any deep lobe or cut.

Cleistogamy (N.): (Gr. kleistos, closed; gamos, marriage) the condition of having flowers which never open and self-pollination occurs, and the flowers are often small and inconspicuous.

Climate (N.): The combination of temperature, precipitation, and winds of a region over time.  Specific climates are hot climate.  Mean annual temperature over 21ºC.  warm temperate climate.  No month below 6ºC.  cool temperate climate.  One to five months below 6ºC.  cold climate.  Six or more months below 6ºC.  arctic climate.  No month above 10ºC.  desert climate.  Low rainfaL. mountain climate.  Trees do not grow at high altitudes.

Climax Community (N.): The final stage of an ecological succession sequence.  The final and mature association of living organisms following a natural succession.  This stage remains relatively unchanged, if climatic and physiographic factors remain stable.

Clinometer (N.): An instrument for determining the angle of a slope.  Knowing the distance from a tree and using a clinometer to measure its angle, an observer can be estimate the hight of a tree.

Clone (N.): (Gr. klon, a twig) a group of plants all of whose members are directly descended from a single individual.

Closed Forest: Forest where trees are the dominant life form and the canopy is closed.

Coccineus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): bright red.

Codominant Trees: Trees with crowns forming the general level of the crown cover and receiving full light from above but comparatively little from the sides, usually with medium-sized crowns and more or less crowded on the sides.

Coherent (Adj.): (L. cohaerere, to stick together) having parts united.

Cold Climate (N.): Six or more months below 6ºC.  Usually Taiga on marine edges.

Collar (N.): (L. collare, a band or chain for the neck) region of junction between blade and leaf sheath of grasses.

Collenchyma (N.): (L. from Gr. killa, glue, and enchyma, an infusion) living, supportive tissue with chloroplasts generally just beneath the surface consisting or more or less elongated cells usually thickened unevenly in a manner somewhat variable in different groups of plants.

Colonial (Adj.): (Fr.  colonial, from L. colonia, a colony) usually used to describe cloning by vegetative reproduction, the seemingly separate plants having arisen from rhizomes, stolons, or roots of a single or of neighboring "parent" plants.

Colony (N.): a stand, group, or population of neighboring plants of one species, the origin having been colonial, from seeds, or both.

Coloratus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): colored.

Colpate (Adj.): (Gr. kolpos + E-ate, of pollen grains) having longitudinal germinal furrows in the exine.

Columnaris (Used in Bonsai – Latin): having the form of a column.

Coma (N.): (L. coma; Gr. kome, hair) a tuft of soft hairs, as at the apices or bases of seeds; a bunch of branches; a terminal cluster of bracts on a flowering stem, as in pineapples.

Commissure (N.): (L. commissura, a joining together) a place of joining or meeting, as where one carpel joins another in the Umbelliferae.

Common Ancestor (N.): The hypothetical single species of an organism that tow or more different species of organism evolved from.

Commonly Nerifolius) (Used in Bonsai – Latin):.

Community (N.): A group of plants or animals living in a defined area under relatively similar conditions.  An association or assemblage of plant and animal populations that live in a particular area or habitat, often dominated by one or more prominent species or by a characteristic physical attribute.  The time and distance each organism moves before it is captured and eaten are largely what determines the area defined by the community and the time for which its dynamic equilibrium thrives.  Often characterized by (1) Growth form and structure; (2) Diversity (number of species); (3) Relative abundance; (4) Dominance and subdominance of species; (5) Feeding hierarchy what eats what.  On land, usually soil has a greater effect on vegetation than climate; of climatic factors, temperature and moisture are most important.

Community Forestry: Forestry developed in areas marginal to agriculture, with many members of the community being landless or small-scale farmers, often characterized by ecological and cultural diversity and the employment of traditional technologies.  Communal land development is basic to this type of forestry.

Comose (Adj.): (L. comosus, hairy, from coma, hair) having a tuft of hair.

Competition (N.): (L. competitio, an agreement, rivalry) involves the removal or reduction of some factor from the environment by a plant or group of plants that is sharing the same habitat.  Competition can be by an individual or groups of plants of the same or different species.  Factors that may be reduced include water, minerals, food, and light.

Compost : 1.  In plant nursery work, a mixture of inorganic and organic materials, perhaps with some soil of a particular suitable kind, in which seeds can be readily germinated or seedlings or young plants grown.  Particular composts are made for particular purposes, and fertilizers are often added.  2.  A pile of decomposing organic matter of plant or animal origin.  Soil and other amendments such as lime, nitrogen and phosphorus may be mixed with the organic matter.  3.  Organic residues, or a mixture of organic residues and soil that have been made into a pile and allowed to undergo biological decomposition.

Compound Leaf (N.): A leaf separated into two or more distinct leaflets.

Concolor (Used in Bonsai – Latin): similar coloring.

Concretion (N.): (L. concretion, concretio, to grow together) the act or process of making or becoming solid.

Conditionally Suppressed Name : A name that is suppressed only in phylogenetic contexts in which it is a synonym of a particular conserved name (see suppressed name).

Conglomeratus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): all close together.

Coniferous Vegetation (N.): Cone-bearing vegetation of middle and high latitudes.  The plants are mostly evergreen and they have needle-shaped or scale-like leaves.

Conifers: Trees that usually but not always have needle leaves or scale leaves and that bear separate male and female cones.  They are usually, but not always, evergreen.  Some, for example, larch, are deciduous.  Conifers belong to the class Gymnospermae.

Connate (Adj.): (L. connatus, past part) congenitally united.

Connivent (Adj.): (L. connivere, to close the eyes) approximate but not organically united; converging; arching over so as to meet.

Conservation: The protection, use and improvement of natural resources according to principles that will assure their highest economic and social benefits.

Conserved Name : An established name that the Committee on Phylogenetic Nomenclature has ruled should have precedence over earlier synonyms or homonyms.

Contortus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): twisted, contorted.

Contour: Linear demarcation of the land surface that indicates places of equal elevation; the lines on a map that connect these points.

Contour Cropping: Sowing a crop in rows or strips so that these follow along a contour.

Contour Furrow: A furrow ploughed on the contour on pasture or rangeland to prevent soil loss and so as to allow water to penetrate the soil; sometimes Used in planting trees and shrubs on the contour.

Contour Tillage: The cultivation of land along the lines of uniform elevation, or contour lines, to reduce erosion.

Controls (N.): Controls help an experimenter regulate and validate an experiment.  They let the experimenter factor out trends (such as a rising temperature or increasing light intensity) that could influence what is observed during the experiment.  This is essential to check that an experiment has appropriate randomization.

Convergent (Adj.): Having characteristics that are similar in structure and function, but that arose separately, rather than from a common ancestor.

Converted (Clade) Name : A preexisting name that has been established in accordance with the rules of this code (see new (clade) name).

Convolute (Adj.): (L. cum, together; volvere, to wind) said of parts rolled or twisted together when in an undeveloped stage, as in some corollas in the bud stage.

Cool Temperate Climate (N.): One to five months below 6ºC.  Usually Temperate forest on marine edges.  Steppe or taiga in continental regions.  See also climate.

Cool Temperate Zone (N.): Winters are well-marked; deciduous leaves lose their leaves as winter approaches.  Often occurs at cloud level.

Coppice : 1.  A method of cutting certain species of trees to encourage them to regrow from the remaining stump.  A tree that coppices readily does not require frequent replanting and is, therefore, useful for producing fuel and poles.2.  Shoot developed from a dormant bud on a main trunk.  3.  A small wood regularly cut over for regrowth.

Cordate (Adj.): (L. cor, cordis, a heart) with a sinus and rounded lobes at the base, the overall outline usually ovate; often restricted to the base rather than to the outline of the entire organ; heart-shaped.

Cordatus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): heart-shaped.

Coriaceous (Adj.): (L. coriaceus, from corium, leather) leathery; tough.

Corm: A specialized part of a stem; a short, enlarged base of a stem where food is stored.

Corm (N.): (L. cormus; Gr. kormus, the trunk of a tree with the boughs lopped off) an enlarged solid subterranean stem, often rounded in shape but of no distinct characteristic shape or size in some species, filled with nutrients, composed of two or more internodes and covered externally by a few thin membranous scales or cataphyllary leaves.

Cormophyta (N.): (Gr. kormus, the trunk of a tree with the boughs lopped off; phyton, plant) in older classifications, a division comprising all plants that have a stem and root.

Cormophyte (N.): a plant of the division Cormophyta.

Cornutus, Cornuta (Used in Bonsai – Latin): horned.

Corolla (N.): (L. corolla, a little crown) the inner, usually colored or otherwise differentiated, whorl or whorls of the perianth; the petals of a flower as a whole.

Corolla: Whorl of flower parts immediately inside and above the corolla.  Contains the petals of a flower; the major function of the corolla is usually to attract specific insects that will transfer pollen between lowers to fertilize their seeds.  In the open flower, the petals are usually larger and more colorful than the sepals.

Corymb (N.): (Gr. korys, a helmet) a racemose type of inflorescence in which the lower pedicels are successively elongated forming a more or less flat-topped inflorescence, the outer flowers opening before the inner.

Cotyledon (N.): (Gr. kotyle, a hollow or cavity) the first leaf or leaves of a seed plant, found in the embryo of the seed which may form the first photosynthetic leaves or may remain below ground.  A structure in the embryo of a seed plant that can form a leaf after germination.  An embryonic leaf that often stores food materials.  A seed leaf.

Crassifolius (Used in Bonsai – Latin): with thick leaves.

Creek (N.): (ME.  creke, crike, from ON.  -kriki, bend, concavity; akin to ON.  krikr, bend, bay) a natural stream of water normally smaller than and often tributary to a river.

Crenate (Adj.): (L. crena, a notch) having a notched, indented, or scalloped edge, as certain leaves.

Crenatus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): serrated.

Cretaceous (N.): A geologic period roughly 65 to 144 million years b.p.  (before the present); the first flowering plant species appeared; the diversity of dinosaurs climaxed.  (Dinosaurs died out at the end of the Cretaceous.) crown class (n.): One of the classes into which trees of a stand may be divided based on crown development and crown position relative to crowns of adjacent trees.  Four classes commonly recognized are: dominant, codominant, intermediate, and suppressed.

Crop Rotation: The growing of different crops on the same land in recurring succession.

Cropping Pattern: The yearly sequence and spatial arrangement of crops, or crops and fallow, on any given area.

Cropping Season: The period during the year when the environment is favourable for the growth of agricultural crops.  In regions that have bimodal rainfall, there will be two such seasons.  Trees may grow at other, less favourable, times.

Cropping System : 1.  The cropping patterns used on a farm and their interaction with farm resources, other farm enterprises and available technology.  2.  The crop production activity of a farm.  It comprises all cropping patterns grown on the farm and their interaction with farm resources, other household enterprises, and the physical, biological, technological and social economic factors or environments.  3.  A land-use unit comprising soils, crops, weeds, pathogens and insect subsystems, which transforms solar energy, water, nutrients, labour and other inputs into food, feed, fuel and fibre.  The cropping system is a subsystem of the farming system.

Crown : 1.  A tree canopy, the upper part of a tree or other woody plant carrying the main branch system and foliage, and surmounting at the crown base a more or less clean stem.2.  The branches and foliage of a tree or the upper portion of a tree.  The leaves as foliage are an outgrowth of the vascular system and are mainly concerned with photosynthesis.  The branches join the stem or other branches.

Crown (N.): (L. corona, a crown, wreath) that part of a stem at or just below the surface of the ground; an inner appendage of a petal or the throat of a corolla; an appendage or extrusion standing between the corolla and stamens, or on the corolla; an outgrowth of the staminal part or circle as in milkweeds.

Crown Clade : A clade within which both of the basal branches have extant representatives.

Crown Clade Definition : Any definition that ties a name to a crown clade—e.g., stem- and apomorphy-modified node-based definitions and standard node-based definitions in which all the specifiers represent extant species or organisms.

Culm: The stem of grasses and bamboos, usually hollow except at the swollen nodes.

Culm (N.): (L. culmus, a stalk, stem) the stalk or stem for such plants as grasses and sedges, usually jointed and hollow.

Cultural Practices: Crop care practices including land preparation, seed selection, weed control, fertilizer and insecticide application, and water control in the field.

Cuneate: a (L. cuneatus, wedge-shaped, from cuneus, a wedge) narrowly triangular with the acute angle toward the base; wedge-shaped; tapering toward the point of attachment.

Cusp (N.): (L. cuspis, a point) rigid, sharp point, especially on a leaf.

Cuspidate (Adj.): (L. cuspidare, to make pointed) tipped with a short, rigid point.

Cuspidatus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): sharp tooth, or hard point.

Cuticle (N.): (L. cutis, skin) a continuous layer of fatty substances covering over the outer surfaces of the epidermis of plants; it contains cutin and protects against water and gases.

Cutin (N.): a waxy substance which, together with cellulose, forms the outer layer of the skin of many plants.

Cutting: A detached part of a plant (for example, stem, root or leaf) that is placed in suitable conditions to promote rooting and the subsequent production of a new leafy shoot.  Stem cuttings can be 'hardwood' (secondarily thickened from previous seasons' tissue), 'semi-hardwood' (mature current or last season's tissue) or 'softwood' (young tissue from the current season).  They can be cut nodally or internodally.

Cyathium (N.): (Gr. kyathos, cup) a type of inflorescence characteristic of some members of Euphorbiaceae; consisting of a cuplike involucre bearing unisexual flowers; staminate on its inner face, pistillate from the base.

Cyme (N.): (Gr. kyein, to swell) a cluster of flowers in which each main and secondary stem bears a single flower, the bud on the main stem blooming first; determinate inflorescence in which each growing point ends in a flower.

Cymose (Adj.): bearing a cyme or cymes.

Cystolith (N.): (Gr. kystis, bladder; lithos, stone) a mass of calcium carbonate concretion, occasionally silica, formed on ingrowths of modified epidermal cell walls in some plants, esp.  of the Acanthaceae family.

Cytokinins (N.): A class of hormones promoting and controlling growth responses of plants.

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D.B.H.  (N.): diameter at breast height (1.37 m or 4.5 ft above the ground) deciduous: Falling off or shed at maturity or in a dry season.  Contrast with evergreen.

Day Neutral Plants: plants that flower regardless of day length.

Dbh: Diameter at breast height (1.4 m or 4.5 ft above ground level).

Deciduous : 1.  Of leaves, bark, and so forth, falling regularly at the end of a growth period, or in the tropics, prior to one.2.  Of a leaf, falling at the end of one season of growth or life.  Of a perennial plant, losing its leaves (or a proportion of them) at the end of a season's growth.

Deciduous (Adj.): (L. deciduus, that which falls down) falling after completion of the normal function.

Deciduous Forest: A forest composed of trees that shed their leaves at some season of the year.  In tropical areas trees may lose their leaves during the hot season to conserve moisture.  Trees of a deciduous forest in cool areas shed their leaves during the autumn to protect themselves against the cold and frost of winter.  Deciduous forests produce valuable hardwood timber, such as teak and mahogany from the tropics, and oak and beech from the cooler areas.

Deciduous: Not persistent; dropping or falling off.

Decimeter (Dm.): 3.973 inches, 10 cm, or 0.1 m.

Decomposer (N.): A consumer that obtains its energy from dead and decaying materials.

Decomposition (N.): Chemical or physical breakdown of matter into smaller parts or chemical elements.  Also the breakdown of organic matter by decomposing organisms into smaller parts or inorganic constituents.

Decumbent (Adj.): (L. decumbere, to lie down) trailing on the ground and rising at the tip, as some stems.  Reclining on the ground, and with the growing end ascending.

Decurrent (Adj.): (L. decurrere, to run down) extending downward, applied usually to leaves in which the blade is apparently prolonged downward as two wings along the petiole or along the stem.

Definition : A statement specifying the meaning of a name (i.e., the taxon to which it refers).

Deforestation (N.): The removal of trees from a habitat that they dominated.  "The thinning, changing, and elimination of forests", from Deforesting the Earth: From Prehistory to Global Crisis by Michael Williams.  (See also our book review.) deliquescent branching (n.): A mode of branching in trees where the trunk divides into many branches.  No central axis is left.  Example: elms.

Deformis (Used in Bonsai – Latin): deformed.

Dehiscence (N.): (L. dehiscere, to gape) opening and shedding contents; said of stamens and fruits.

Dehisces (Vt.): to burst or split open, as the seed capsules of plants.

Deliciosus, Deliciosa (Used in Bonsai – Latin): delicious.

Deltoid (Adj.): (Gr. delta, and eidos, form) shaped like the Greek letter delta; triangular in outline.

Dendrochronology (N.): The science of studying the past by looking at the growth rings on trees.

Dendroideus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): like a tree.

Dendrology (N.): The science of studying trees.

Densatus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): dense.

Densiflorus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): with dense flowers.

Densifolius (Used in Bonsai – Latin): with dense leaves.

Dentate (Adj.): (L. dens, a tooth) toothed, with large saw-like teeth on the margin pointing outward, not forward.  Describes a leaf whose margins have teeth that point out.

Dentatus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): toothed, with a series of points.

Denticle (N.): (L. denticulus, little tooth) a small tooth or toothlike projecting point.

Denticulate (Adj.): having small teeth; finely dentate.

Derived (Adj.): Describes character(s) that changed from a primitive state; advanced.

Derived Characteristic (N.): Evolutionarily advanced character state.

Descendant (N.): Describes a species or taxon that has evolved from another species or from within a taxon.

Description : A statement of the features of a taxon (or its component organisms), not limited to those that distinguish it from other taxa with which it might be confused (see "diagnosis").

Desert (N.): Area that receives low precipitation (averaging less than 25 centimeters a year).  Also a biome in which the plants and animals have adapted to survive severe drought conditions.  desert climate (n.): Low rainfaL. Hot desert: no month below 6ºC.  Cold desert: one or more months below 6ºC.

Desertification (N.): The creation of a region that is little cultivated, lacking in moisture, nutrients, or suitable temperature and light.

Diadelphous (Adj.): (from di-, twice, and Gr. adelphos, brother; -ous) in two sets as applied to stamens when in two, usually unequal, sets.

Diagnosis : A brief statement of the features of a taxon that collectively distinguish it from other taxa with which it might be confused.

Dichogamy (N.): Maturation of stamens and pistils at different times, thus preventing self-pollination.

Dichotomous (Adj.): (Gr. dichotous, a cutting in two) having or consisting of a pair or pairs; paired.

Dicotyledon (N.): A plant having two cotyledons or seed leaves.  (dicotyledonous, adj.).

Digitate (Adj.): (L. digitus, finger) having fingerlike divisions, as some leaves.

Dimorphic (Adj.): (Gr. dimorphos, having two forms) having two forms.

Dioecious (Adj.): (Gr. di, two; oikos, house) said of a kind of plant having unisexual flowers, the male and female flowers on different individual plants.

Dioecious: Having staminate (male) flowers and pistillate (female) flowers on different plants of the same species.  Having unisexual cones or flowers with only one sex per plant, thereby having separate male and female plants.

Diploid (Adj.): (Gr. diploos, double; eidos, form) having twice the number of chromosomes normally occurring in a germ ceL.

Diploid (N.): An organism which has two sets of chromosomes (paternal and maternal) in its cells.

Dipterus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): two-winged.

Disc Flowers: the radially symmetrical flowers of the head in Compositae, as distinguished from the ligulate ray flowers.

Disclimax (N.): A relatively stable ecological community often including kinds of organisms foreign to the region and replacing the climax because of disturbance.

Discoid (Adj.): (Gr. diskos, a disk) having the form of a disk; discoid flower; a compound flower not radiated but with tubular florets.

Discolor (Used in Bonsai – Latin): of two or several colors.

Disease (N.): An impairment of the normal state of an organism, modifying or interrupting its normal function.  Caused by a pathogen.

Dispersion: The horizontal spacing of plants or animals.  It can describe the structure of an ecological community.  Uniform dispersion results from competition for light, nutrients, and water.  Random dispersion (where individuals are distributed through a homogeneous area without regard to the presence of others) is rare.  Clumped dispersion, or aggregation, is very common.  Often it results from the uneven distribution of resources.

Disruptive Selection (N.): : Natural selection where subpopulations of a single species within the same habitat exhibit different adaptations.  Occurs when a habitat contains distinctly different types of soil conditions or other factors.  Developing subpopulations adapt to particular features of the area.  Results in evolutionary changes and new species, after which the subpopulations enter into stabilizing selection.  Alternatively, produce cash crops with a minimum of fallow and natural recovery periods.  Cloudsley-Thompson comments, "It has been said that the desert is the cradle of civilization: certainly throughout their existence, people have been turning their birth place into a desert.":.

Dissectus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): deeply cut leaves, an in fern-leaved maple.

Distal (Adj.): (L. distare, to stand apart) farthest away from the point of attachment or origin.

Distichous (Adj.): (Gr. distichos, having two rows) two-ranked; in the case of plants with alternate leaves, the arrangement is such that 1st is directly below the 3rd.

Divaricate (Vt.): (L. divaricare, to spread apart) to branch or spread widely apart.

Divaricatus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): spreading.

Divergent (Adj.): (L. divergere, to bend away) separated from one another, having tips further apart than the bases.

Diverticulate (Adj.): (L. divertere, to turn aside) having short offshoots approximately at right angles to axis.

Divided (Adj.): (L. dividere, to divide) referring to the blade of an appendage when it is cut into distinct divisions to, or almost to, the midvein.

Dna (N.): Deoxyribonucleic acid, the carrier of genetic information in cells.

Domesticus (Used in Bonsai – Latin): domesticated.

Dominant (A Crown Class): One of four main crown classes.  Dominant trees are largely free-growing.  They have their crowns in the uppermost layers of the canopy.

Dorsal (Adj.): (L. dorsum, the back) pertaining to the back; the surface turned away from the axis.

Down (N.): (ME.  down, downe, down; probably of Scandinavian origin) fine, soft feathers; soft, fine hair.

Downy (Adj.): covered with short, fine hairs.

Drought: Climatic condition where water loss due to evaporation and transpiration is greater than water inputs through precipitation.

Drupe (N.): (Gr. dryppa, an overripe olive) a fleshy or pulpy fruit with the inner portion of the pericarp hard or stony and enclosing the seed; usually 1-locular and 1-seeded, sometimes more than 1-locular and more than 1-seeded.

Drupe: A fleshy, soft fuit outside and around (making it the exocarp) that encloses a hard-shelled seed or stone (endocarp).

Duff (N.): The partially decomposed organic matter (litter of leaves, flowers, and fruits) beneath plants, as on a forest floor.

Dyne (N.): The unit of force that creates an acceleration of 1 centimeter per second on a 1-gram mass.  (105 dynes equals one newton.).

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Earthquake: Sudden motion or shaking in the Earth.  Caused by the quick release in seismic waves of slowly accumulated energy.  Often occurs along faults, tectonic plate boundaries, or the mid-oceanic ridges.

Echinate (Adj.): (L. echinus, a hedgehog) set with prickles; prickly, like a hedgehog; having sharp points.

Ecofarming: Farming land by using practices that maintain biological diversity and conserve the resource base.

Ecological Diversity: The variety of unique biological communities on the Earth.

Ecological Niche: The physical, chemical, and biological conditions required by a species to survive, grow, and reproduce.

Ecology : 1.  The study of the totality or patterns of relations between organisms and their environment.2.  The study of the interactions of living things, from ecos, the Greek word for 'living earth'.  Certain plants and animals require specific conditions to live well and this is often termed the ecology of that plant or animal.

Ecology (N.): (Gr. oikos, house; and -logy Gr. -logia, from legein, to speak) branch of science concerned with the interrelationships of organisms and their environments esp.  as manifested by natural cycles and rhythms, community development and structure, interaction between different kinds of organisms, geographic distributions and population alteration.

Ecology: Scientific study of the relationships among organisms, and between organism the living and non-living aspects of their environments.  Study of the interactions that determine distribution and abundance of organisms.  First use by E.H.  Haeckel (1869) in German, from oikos (Greek for home) and logos (Greek or discourse).  For an introduction to ecology, see John Cloudsley-Thompson's Ecology:.

Ecosystem : 1.  The entire system of life and its environmental and geographical factors that influence all life, including the plants, the animals and the environmental factors.2.  System that includes both living (biotic) and non-living (abiotic) units to produce an exchange between them.  3.  A group of organisms interacting among themselves and with their environment.

Ecosystem: The basic unit in ecology.  Includes both the organisms and the non-living environment.  The entire complex of organisms and factors of environment in an ecological unit in a defined space.  An ecosystem consists of both organic and inorganic components, and includes soil, plants, animals, climate, and physical geoography.  A sustainable natural community, its living organisms, and the ways these organisms interact (especially through energy and nutrient flow) with the physical space and with each other.  Populations are tied to the amount of energy captured by primary producers in an ecosystem.

Ecotone: An zone of contention for dominance between different plant communities.  A transition area, narrow or broad, between contiguous communities.

Edaphic (Adj.): relating to, or determined by, conditions of the soil.

Edaphic Factors: The elements of that environment that determine, in combination, the nature of soils.  Such factors include the alkalinity of the soil, the degree of moisture, and the degree of sunlight.  From the Greek edaphos for floor, earth.

Edulis (Used in Bonsai – Latin): can be eaten.

Elatus, Elata (Used in Bonsai – Latin): taL.