Botany
Cactus grower terms
The science of plants, their structure, biology, ecology, distribution, and classification.
Glossary of terms
A reference section with categories and short explanations.
Bud
Cactus grower terms
An embryonic shoot consisting of a rudimentary stem with an apical meristem (growth cone) and a floral primordium. Buds are classified as floral (fruit) and vegetative (stem) buds.
Buffer capacity
Cactus grower terms
The ability of a solution to maintain a constant pH when an acid or a base is added to it.
Buffer systems
Cactus grower terms
A set of substances dissolved in water that ensures the maintenance of a constant acidity (pH). A characteristic of a buffer system is its buffering capacity.
Caatinga
Cactus grower terms
Xerophytic low-growing forests and shrub thickets in the northeastern part of the Brazilian Highlands, formed under hot, dry climatic conditions. Cactus soil is a specialized potting mix used for growing cacti.
Cactus culture
Cactus grower terms
The set of practices ensuring the survival of cacti in a collection.
Callus
Cactus grower terms
"Callus", forming at the site of injury on a plant and consisting of dividing cells. Promotes wound healing and the union of grafts.
Cambial ring
Cactus grower terms
Sap-conducting vessels arranged as a cylinder along the axis of the stem. They appear as a ring in cross-section.
Cambium
Cactus grower terms
Secondary meristematic tissue located along the length of the stem as a thin cylindrical layer of cells.
Campos
Cactus grower terms
Local name for savannas — plains covered with perennial grasses with scattered trees or areas of shrub thickets.
Carotenoids
Cactus grower terms
(From Latin carota – carrot) – pigments of various colors contained in chloroplasts and chromoplasts.
Categorization of plants
Cactus grower terms
Division of plants into groups during their classification. The main classification categories are class, family, genus, species.
Caudex
Cactus grower terms
The lower perennial, lignifying parts of the stem or root of plants with a taproot system.
Cell sap
Cactus grower terms
The liquid that fills the vacuoles of plant cells and is a product of their metabolic activity (mineral salts, amino acids, carbohydrates, organic acids, pigments).
Central spines
Cactus grower terms
Spines located in the center of the areole.
Cephalium
Cactus grower terms
A woolly, densely bristly formation on the apices of the stems of certain cactus genera, or on their lateral parts, from which fruits and flowers emerge. The development of a cephalium leads to morphological changes in the stem in the area…
Chaparral
Cactus grower terms
Subtropical formations of evergreen, low-growing xerophytic shrubs with isolated bare rock outcrops.
Chimeras
Cactus grower terms
Plants composed of tissues from two different individuals, resulting from somatic mutations (at the cellular level).
Chlorophyll
Cactus grower terms
A coloring substance (pigment) whose presence determines the coloration of plant leaves and stems.
Chloroplast
Cactus grower terms
Special green bodies in plant cells.
Chlorosis
Cactus grower terms
(From Greek chloros - pale green) - a disease in which the formation of chlorophyll is disrupted as a result of changes in nutrient conditions, deficiency of iron or magnesium, excessive moisture, poor lighting, as well as viral or fungal …
Chromoplast
Cactus grower terms
Special bodies in plant cells that synthesize carotenoids.
Classification of plants
Cactus grower terms
Systematization of the plant world based on the process of its historical development, with subsequent division into groups according to any similar characteristic or to several characteristics that recur from generation to generation.
Clay loam
Cactus grower terms
Soil containing clay and sand with a predominance of clay.
Cleistogamy
Cactus grower terms
(Cleistogamous flower) (from Greek kleistos - closed and gamos - marriage) - self-pollination and self-fertilization in flowers that do not open.
Clone
Cactus grower terms
A series of successive generations of genetically uniform individuals formed as a result of asexual or vegetative reproduction from a common ancestor.
Colored forms
Cactus grower terms
See "achlorophyllous forms".
Compost
Cactus grower terms
Fertilizer obtained as a result of the decomposition of various organic substances under the activity of microorganisms (the basis of compost is manure).
Convergence
Cactus grower terms
Similarity of traits that arises in the course of evolution in phylogenetically distant plants under the influence of similar environmental conditions.
Corolla
Cactus grower terms
Part of the perianth consisting of petals, colored in various hues, which attract pollinators. Serves as an important morphological character in plant systematics.
Cotyledons
Cactus grower terms
Modified first leaves of the embryos of dicotyledonous plants, developing in the seed and usually serving after germination as storage organs for nutrients.
Cristate forms
Cactus grower terms
An anomaly (an unusual form) of plant development in which the growing point is stretched into a line and the cactus acquires a crest-like form.
Cross-pollination
Cactus grower terms
Fertilization of a flower by pollen from another plant.
Crossing-over
Cactus grower terms
(From Eng. crossing-over - crossover) - mutual exchange of homologous segments between homologous chromosomes as a result of breakage and rejoining in a new order of their strands - chromatids; leads to new combinations of alleles of diffe…
Cultivar
Cactus grower terms
An individual obtained by cultivation and differing in certain characteristics (morphological, physiological, and others) that are valuable to maintain when reproduced both vegetatively and by generative means. Equivalent to the term 'vari…
Cultivated plants
Cactus grower terms
Plants that have been grown for many generations under conditions of selection and care by humans during their cultivation.
Cultivation characteristic
Cactus grower terms
Distinctive features of plants grown under cultivation, differing from their natural traits.
Cuticle
Cactus grower terms
(From Latin cuticula - skin) - a layer of fatty (waxy) substance that covers the surface of the epidermis of aerial organs with a continuous film; poorly permeable to aqueous solutions, gases, and microorganisms. A thick cuticula, densely …
Cutting
Cactus grower terms
A portion of stem separated from the parent plant, capable, after rooting, of restoring the plant's vitality as a whole.
Cuttings
Cactus grower terms
Parts of a plant used for rooting.