Glossary
Unsure of some of the Green terms/vocabulary used on the site? Find out what they mean here.
Bonsai - a Japanese art form which utilizes cultivation techniques to produce, in containers, small trees that mimic the shape and scale of full size trees.
Bract - a specialized leaf or leaflike part, usually situated at the base of a flower or inflorescence.
Deciduous - shedding the leaves annually, as certain trees and shrubs.
Endemic - belonging exclusively or confined to a particular place
epiphytic (orchids) - a plant that grows above the ground, supported nonparasitically by another plant or object, and deriving its nutrients and water from rain, the air, dust, etc.
Evergreen - having green leaves throughout the entire year, the leaves of the past season not being shed until after the new foliage has been completely formed.
Family - the usual major subdivision of an order or suborder in the classification of plants, animals, fungi, etc., usually consisting of several genera.
Genus - the usual major subdivision of a family or subfamily in the classification of organisms, usually consisting of more than one species.
Horticulture - the cultivation of a garden, orchard, or nursery; the cultivation of flowers, fruits, vegetables, or ornamental plants.
Hybrid - the offspring of two animals or plants of different breeds, varieties, species, or genera, especially as produced through human manipulation for specific genetic characteristics.
Lithophytic - any plant growing on the surface of rocks.
Lowland - land that is low or level, in comparison with the adjacent country.
Monocot - an angiospermous plant of the class Monocotyledones, characterized by producing seeds with one cotyledon and an endogenous manner of growth.
Petal - one of the often colored segments of the corolla of a flower.
Scrub (environment/habitat) - a large area covered with low trees and shrubs
Sepal - one of the individual leaves or parts of the calyx of a flower.
Shrub - a woody plant smaller than a tree, usually having multiple permanent stems branching from or near the ground.
Species - the basic category of biological classification, composed of related individuals that resemble one another, are able to breed among themselves, but are not able to breed with members of another species.
Stolon - a prostrate stem, at or just below the surface of the ground, that produces new plants from buds at its tips or nodes.
Subtropical - pertaining to or occurring in a region between tropical and temperate; subtorrid; semitropical.
Succulent - Succulent plants have parts that are thickened and flashy. These adaptations help it to retain water in dry climate and soil conditions.
Temperate - moderate in respect to temperature; not subject to prolonged extremes of hot or cold weather.
Tribe - a category in the classification of organisms usually between a subfamily and a genus or sometimes between a suborder and a family.
Trifoliate - having three leaflets, as a compound leaf
Tropical - pertaining to, characteristic of, occurring in, or inhabiting the tropics , especially the humid tropics
Tuberous roots - a true root so thickened as to resemble a tuber, but bearing no buds or eyes.
Upland - the higher ground of a region or district; an elevated region.
Source of definitions: Dictionary.com and various other websites