Comprehensive Horticulture, Botany, and Landscape Management Notes

Comprehensive practice vocabulary flashcards covering botany, plant morphology, plant identification, environmental adaptations, soils, plant nutrition, container culture, pruning, plant diseases, insects, weed ecology, turfgrass management, landscape design, poisonous plants, invasive species regulations, integrated pest management, herbaceous perennials, and sustainable landscape systems.

What is Phloem?

is the living tissue in vascular plants that transports the soluble organic compounds made during photosynthesis

What are Dicots?

Dicots possess two cotyledons, net venation, ringed vascular bundles, and floral parts in multiples of four or five.

What is an Intergenic Hybrid?

Intergeneric hybrids are crosses between distinct genera within the same family (e.g., x Cupressocyparis).

In the USDA Plant Hardiness Map, zones are divided by average low temperatures in increments of what?

10 Degrees

What is Necrosis?

Necrosis is the localized death, browning, and collapse of plant cells and tissues.

What are the Five Kingdoms of Organisms?

-Monera (prokaryotic single-celled organisms without an organized nucleus)

-Protista (simple single-celled eukaryotes)

-Fungi (absorptive heterotrophs)

-Plantae (photosynthetic multicellular autotrophs)

-Animalae (ingestive organisms).

What is Meiosis?

Meiosis is reduction division in reproductive organs producing haploid gametes with half the parent chromosome number.

What is Mitosis?

Mitosis is somatic nuclear division yielding two identical daughter cells with unchanged chromosome counts

Meristem

Undifferentiated plant tissue from which all new cells and plant growth arise, including shoot tip meristems, root tip meristems, and lateral vascular cambium.

Root Hairs account for what percentage of water and mineral absorption in the roots?

90%

What is the Pericycle?

A layer of cells two to three layers thick located directly inside the endodermis of the root stele from which branch (lateral) roots originate.

What is Xylem?

Xylem is water-conducting tissue composed mainly of dead, hollowed cells arranged end-to-end

What is Phellogen (Cork Cambium)?

The secondary lateral meristem in woody stems situated beneath the outer cork layer that divides to generate new cork cells, forming outer bark.

What is Transpiration?

The evaporation and release of water vapor from the surfaces of mesophyll cells through stomates into the surrounding atmosphere, cooling foliage and enabling continuous dissolved-mineral transport.

What is Auxin (Indole-3-Acetic Acid / IAA)?

Known as the master growth hormone in plants, regulating diverse processes including cell elongation, apical dominance, and rooting.

What is Abscisic Acid (ABA)?

A plant hormone that functions primarily as a growth inhibitor, closing stomata under water stress and inducing bud dormancy and cold hardiness.

What is Ethylene?

A simple gaseous plant hormone that controls fruit ripening, seed germination, leaf and petal abscission, and wound healing while acting as a growth inhibitor.

What are Gymnosperms?

Non-flowering vascular seed plants whose name translates to 'naked seed' because ovules and seeds develop uncovered on cone scales rather than enclosed in an ovary; all are wind-pollinated.

What are Angiosperms?

Vascular flowering plants whose seeds develop enclosed within an ovary (carpel); divided taxonomically into Monocotyledonae and Dicotyledonae.

What are Monocots?

Monocots possess one cotyledon, parallel leaf venation, scattered vascular bundles, and floral parts in multiples of three

Who invented binomial nomenclature?

Carl Linnaeus, an 18th century Swedish Naturalist

What is a Cultivar?

A cultivated variety of a plant selected for distinct characteristics and maintained true-to-type through controlled breeding or asexual propagation, designated by single quotes (e.g., 'Ruby Spice') or 'cv'.

Interspecific Hybrids

Interspecific hybrids are crosses between distinct species in the same genus (indicated by an 'x', such as Platanus x acerifolia)

Photoperiodism in plants is a response to what?

A plant's physiological response to the duration of the daily dark period (night length), regulating flowering (short-day vs. long-day plants), vegetative dormancy, and the onset of winter hardiness.

What is the Washtub Effect?

A problem occurring when a planting hole dug into dense, heavy native soil is backfilled with porous, amended medium, trapping water like a tub and rotting roots after rain.

What is the Root Hardiness Threshold?

The temperature limit below which root tissues are killed; for example, roots of Ilex, Pyracantha, and Cotoneaster can die at 20\text{--}22^\rigtht\text{F} despite their tops tolerating sub-zero temperatures.

In the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, how many zones is it divided into?

11

What is the difference between Soil Horizon A vs. Horizon B?

Horizon A (topsoil) is the uppermost layer characterized by accumulated dark organic matter and intense weathering; Horizon B (subsoil) is lighter in color, less weathered, and accumulates translocated minerals and fine clays.

What are the three ends of the Soil Triangle?

Clay, Sand, Silt

What is Loam?

A balanced soil texture containing less than $52\%$ sand, $7\text{--}27\%$ clay, and $28\text{--}50\%$ silt, offering a mellow texture that feels slightly gritty, smooth, and cohesive.

Organic soils are more than ___% organic matter by weight?

20%

What is Field Capacity?

The percentage or amount of water retained by a soil profile after all free gravitational water has completely drained away, consisting of capillary and hygroscopic water.

What is the Permanent Wilting Point (PWP)?

The moisture percentage remaining in a drying soil when plant foliage wilts and cannot recover turgidity even when placed in an atmosphere of $100\%$ relative humidity.

Gravitational Water vs. Capillary Water?

Gravitational water is free water that drains downward beyond the root zone under gravity; capillary water is moisture retained in fine micropores by adhesion and cohesion that is readily available to plant roots.

What is Physiological Drought?

A condition in waterlogged, compacted, or excessively salted soils where roots suffocate or suffer osmotic damage, leaving foliage wilted even though moisture is abundant.

What is an Artillery Fungus (Sphaerobolus)?

A mulch-inhabiting fungus producing tiny cup-shaped structures that forcibly eject sticky black spore masses onto siding, cars, and leaves, which are difficult to clean.

What is Sour Mulch?

Bark or wood mulch piled too high that becomes oxygen-depleted, causing anaerobic microbes to generate toxic volatile acetic acid, ammonia, or sulfur that quickly kills landscape plantings.

The Guaranteed Analysis on bags of Fertilizer display what three components?

Total Nitrogen ($\text{N}$)

Available Phosphate ($\text{P}_2\text{O}_5$)

Soluble Potash ($\text{K}_2\text{O}$).

What is Water-Insoluble Nitrogen (WIN)?

The percentage of total nitrogen in a fertilizer formulation derived from slowly degraded, non-burning organic or synthetic slow-release compounds that release nutrients over an extended duration.

What is Chlorosis?

Chlorosis is the loss or yellowing of green chlorophyll pigments in foliage

What is the difference between Calcitic vs. Dolomitic Limestone?

Calcitic limestone provides primarily calcium carbonate ($\text{CaCO}_3$); dolomitic limestone contains both calcium carbonate and magnesium carbonate ($\text{MgCO}_3$), correcting both acidity and magnesium deficiency.

What is Soil Buffering Capacity?

The ability of a soil to resist changes in pH, dictated by the concentration of negatively charged clay particles and organic matter; highly buffered soils require larger amendments of lime or sulfur.

What is a Fertilizer Proportioner?

A mechanical device (displacement or positive venturi injection) that introduces a measured stock solution of soluble fertilizer into an irrigation stream at an accurate dilution ratio.

What does it mean for a nursery plant to be Balled and Burlapped (B&B)?

Field-grown nursery stock dug with an intact ball of soil enclosing its root system, secured tightly in burlap fabric and tied with twine.

What is Butterflying (Root Ball) in planting terms?

A corrective planting technique for container-grown plants with circling or pot-bound roots, where an 'X' cut is sliced into the bottom third of the root ball and the lobes are flared outward.

What are the factors for a Proper Pruning Cut?

A clean cut made just outside the branch collar or above a viable lateral bud at a moderate angle, avoiding flat stubs that invite rot and cuts that are overly steep or close to the bud.

Heading Back vs. Thinning

Heading back cuts branches back to a lateral bud or branch to reduce plant size; thinning removes an entire branch back to a main limb, trunk, or the soil level to reduce density.

What is Renewal (Rejuvenation) Pruning?

Drastic multi-step shrub restoration where overgrown or leggy multi-stemmed shrubs are cut nearly to the ground in early spring, followed by shoot thinning and pinching over two to three years.

What is a Pine Candle?

The soft, elongated spring growth shoots on pine branches prior to needle expansion, representing the only developmental stage at which pines can be pinched to promote compact form.

Symptom vs. Sign (Plant Pathology)

A symptom is the visible host response or altered condition caused by a disease (e.g., wilting, chlorosis); a sign is the physical structure or vegetative body of the pathogen itself (e.g., mycelium, conks, spores).

Phycomycetes

A primitive class of fungi (water molds) possessing nonseptate mycelium and producing motile, flagellated swimming zoospores, including Phytophthora and Pythium.

Ascomycetes

The sac fungi, characterized by producing eight sexual ascospores within a microscopic saclike structure called an ascus, alongside prolific asexual spores (e.g., powdery mildew, apple scab).

Basidiomycetes

Advanced club fungi that produce four external spores upon a microscopic club-shaped basidium and develop septate hyphae with clamp connections (e.g., rusts, smuts, mushrooms, Armillaria).

Fungi Imperfecti

An artificial taxonomic assemblage of fungi in which a sexual reproduction stage has not been observed, propagating exclusively by asexual spores.

Disease Development Cycle

The biological process required for infectious disease manifestation, moving from an inoculum source through incubation, infection, disease development, and the reproduction of secondary inoculum.

What are the three factors of a Disease Triangle?

A susceptible host, a virulent pathogen, and a favorable environment.

What is the Exclusion strategy? (Plant Pathology)

The disease management strategy that prevents the introduction and entry of foreign pathogens into disease-free regions via state or federal plant quarantine inspections.

What is an instar?

The distinct developmental form or growth stage assumed by an immature insect between successive molts of its exoskeleton.

Gradual vs. Complete Metamorphosis

Gradual metamorphosis progresses through egg, wingless nymph, and winged adult stages without a resting phase; complete metamorphosis transitions through distinct egg, feeding larva, pupa, and adult stages.

Allelopathy

The biological phenomenon in which a plant produces chemical biochemicals (allelochemicals) through roots, foliage, or decomposing residues to inhibit the germination or growth of neighboring plant species.

Summer Annual vs. Winter Annual Weeds

Summer annuals germinate in spring, set seed in late summer, and die with autumn frost; winter annuals germinate in late summer or autumn, overwinter, flower in spring, and die in summer heat.

Creeping Perennial

A perennial weed that survives for three or more years, reproducing both by seed and by vegetative modified structures such as rhizomes, stolons, tubers, or creeping roots.

Rhizome vs. Stolon

A rhizome is a horizontal, subterranean stem capable of producing new roots and shoots; a stolon is a horizontal, aboveground stem (runner) that roots at nodes to establish daughter plants.

Endophytes (Turfgrass)

Naturally occurring beneficial mutualistic fungi inhabiting certain fescues and perennial ryegrasses that produce alkaloids deterring surface-feeding lawn insects (chinch bugs, webworms, billbugs) and improving stress tolerance.

Turfgrass Seed Label

The federally mandated analysis on grass seed packages stating percentage pure seed, cultivar name, germination rate, inert matter, other crop seed, weed seed percentage, noxious weed declaration, and test date.

One-Third Mowing Rule

The turf management guideline stating that no more than one-third of the total turfgrass leaf blade height should be removed in a single mowing event to prevent physiological shock and scalping.

Turfgrass Thatch

A tightly interwoven layer of living and dead organic stems, crowns, and roots located between the green turf canopy and the soil surface; excessive accumulation ($>0.75\,\text{inch}$) impedes water, air, and nutrient movement.

Connecticut Turf Phosphorus Law

State legislation effective January 1, 2013, restricting the application of phosphorus fertilizer on established turfgrass lawns and completely prohibiting all lawn applications between November 15 and March 15.

Bubble Diagram

A preliminary, freehand landscape design sketch using rough circular bubbles to organize functional spatial zones (play areas, entertainment patios, quiet relaxation) relative to views, circulation, and home architecture.

Three Planes of Landscape Enclosure

The outdoor room design spatial framework consisting of the base plane (ground/flooring receiving wear), the vertical plane (walls/hedges directing views and screening wind), and the overhead plane (canopy/roof creating intimacy).

Macroclimate vs. Microclimate

Macroclimate is the broad regional climate defined by latitude, elevation, and proximity to oceans; microclimate encompasses site-specific variations influenced by building walls, slopes, fences, and solar reflection.

Connecticut Invasive Plant Criteria

A nine-point statutory standard requiring nonindigenous origin, naturalization potential, rapid dispersion, and colonizing ability; plants must meet all nine criteria to be labelled invasive, or the first five plus one other to be deemed potentially invasive.

Running Bamboo Exclusion Paradox

A legal loophole under Connecticut invasive statutes where aggressive running bamboo (Phyllostachys) cannot be formally classified as invasive because statutory criterion 9 requires high seed production, whereas bamboo flowers only once every few decades before dying.

Soil Solarization

A non-chemical weed and pathogen eradication technique where moist soil is covered tightly with clear or black plastic sheeting during summer heat to generate lethal temperatures that kill seeds, roots, and microbes.

Integrated Pest Management (IPM)

A decision-making approach utilizing regular scouting, economic action thresholds, biological, physical, cultural, and precise chemical tools to maintain plant health with minimal environmental and human risk.

Economic Threshold vs. Economic Injury Level

The economic threshold (action threshold) is the pest population density at which management must be applied to prevent populations from reaching the economic injury level, which is the density causing unacceptable financial or aesthetic damage.

Surfactant

A surface-active pesticide adjuvant that decreases the surface tension of water spray droplets, enabling them to flatten, spread, and adhere evenly across waxy or pubescent leaf surfaces.

Source-to-Sink Concept

The translocation pathway of plant photosynthates from carbohydrate-producing foliage (sources) to actively growing or storage tissues (sinks), dictating the systemic distribution of post-emergent pesticides.

Category I Pesticide

A highly toxic pesticide classification bearing the mandatory signal words 'DANGER-POISON' printed in red alongside a skull and crossbones, with an oral $\text{LD}_{50} \le 50\,\text{mg/kg}$; a few drops to a teaspoonful can kill an adult.

Disbudding vs. Deadheading

Disbudding removes smaller lateral flower buds to divert nutrients to a single terminal bloom for maximum flower size; deadheading removes faded flowers and developing seedheads to prolong blooming and conserve carbohydrates.

Sustainable Landscape

A designed, multi-functional landscape that integrates natural and built systems to sequester carbon, clean air and water, restore biodiversity, and conserve non-renewable resources with reduced management inputs.

Hydrologic Cycle

The biogeochemical cycle involving continuous water movement through evaporation from open waters ($90\%$ of atmospheric moisture), transpiration from plants ($10\%$), condensation, precipitation, surface runoff, and groundwater recharge.

Nitrogen Fixation

The biological process in which specialized soil microorganisms and root symbionts convert inert, unusable atmospheric nitrogen ($\text{N}_2$) into plant-available reactive nitrogen compounds (ammonium and nitrates).

Traditional vs. Naturalized Sustainable Design

Traditional sustainable design uses native plants as direct visual substitutes for introduced exotics within mulched beds; naturalized design embraces ecological succession to foster maturing, self-sustaining meadow or woodland plant communities.

Bioswale vs. Rain Garden

Both are vegetated depressions designed to capture, filter, and infiltrate stormwater runoff; rain gardens are typically residential in scale, while bioswales are larger, engineered municipal or commercial conveyance channels handling substantial volumes.

Responsible Compost Application Standards

Sustainable athletic field and lawn guidelines mandating the use of compost with less than $0.3\%$ phosphate (e.g., leaf compost), applying no more than $0.25\,\text{inch}$ per topdressing, and coinciding with hollow-tine core cultivation.