Horticultural Fruit Crop Production - Vocabulary Flashcards

65 vocabulary flashcards covering key terms from the lecture notes on horticultural fruit crop production.

Hortus

Latin for garden or enclosure; root concept in horticulture.

Cultura

Latin for cultivation; combined with hortus to form horticulture.

Olericulture

Study of vegetables.

Pomology

Study of fruits.

Floriculture

Study of flowers as a crop.

Spices, medicinal, aromatic crops

Crops grown for spices, medicines, and aroma (e.g., black pepper, mint, patchouli).

Fruit

Matured or ripened ovary with accessory parts; edible raw or processed.

Pericarp

Outer wall of the ovary that becomes the fruit wall; may be dry or fleshy and has three layers.

Exocarp

Outer layer of the pericarp; the skin of the fruit.

Mesocarp

Middle layer of the pericarp; often fleshy and edible.

Endocarp

Innermost layer of the pericarp surrounding the seed.

Seed

Mature ovule containing embryo; protects and nourishes embryo; germinates to form a new plant; consists of seed coat, embryo, and stored food.

Ovule

Structure that matures into a seed.

Seed coat

Outer protective layer of a seed.

Embryo

Developing plant contained within the seed.

Stored food

Nutrients stored in the seed to nourish the embryo during germination.

Climacteric fruits

Fruits that continue ripening after harvest, with high ethylene emission and respiration (e.g., mango, banana, papaya, apple, pear).

Non-climacteric fruits

Fruits that do not ripen after harvest; little ethylene; examples citrus, strawberry, cherries.

Ethylene

Plant hormone that promotes ripening in climacteric fruits.

Photoperiodism

Developmental response of plants to the relative length of light and dark periods.

Short-day plants

Flower when daylength is shorter than 12 hours (long night) such as strawberry and pineapple.

Long-day plants

Flower when daylength exceeds 12 hours (short night) such as banana and apple.

Day-neutral plants

Flower after a certain growth period, independent of daylength (e.g., papaya).

Temperate zone fruit plants

Plants that enter dormancy in fall and require chill hours; frost-tolerant (e.g., apple, pear, peach, cherries).

Subtropical zone fruit plants

Milder temperatures; moderately tolerant to chilling; sometimes require chilling; frost-sensitive (e.g., avocado, citrus, olives).

Tropical zone fruit plants

Require high temperatures; not tolerant to freezing; thrive in hot, humid conditions (e.g., mango, jackfruit).

Simple fruit

Fruit derived from a single ovary.

Aggregate fruit

Fruits developed from multiple ovaries of the same flower (apocarpous); examples include raspberry, blackberry, strawberry.

Multiple fruit

Fruits developed from an entire inflorescence; examples include pineapple, mulberry, fig, jackfruit.

Berries

Fleshy fruit from a single flower with multiple carpels; seeds embedded in pulp; examples: tomato, grape, blueberry; note that strawberries, raspberries, and blackberries are not true berries.

Drupes

Stone fruits from a single flower with a superior ovary; one or two seeds; endocarp hard (stone); examples peach, plum, cherry, apricot, mango, almond.

Pome

Fruit from a compound inferior ovary with fleshy receptacle tissue; not a true fruit; central part is true fruit; examples apple, pear, quince.

Accessory fruit

Fruits where non-ovary parts (receptacle) become fleshy; examples strawberry, cashew apple, figs.

Superior ovary

Ovary located above the thalamus; floral parts surround the ovary.

Half-inferior ovary

Thalamus forms a cup around the ovary; floral parts located along the rim.

Inferior ovary

Thalamus largely or completely covers the ovary; floral parts at the top.

Locule

Chambers within the ovary; fruits can be unilocular or multilocular; contain ovules.

Monocarpellary gynoecium

Gynoecium with a single carpel.

Multicarpellary gynoecium

Gynoecium with multiple carpels.

Apocarpous

Carpels are separate, forming distinct gynoecia.

Syncarpous

Carpels fused to form a single gynoecium.

Gynoecium

Female reproductive part of a flower (stigma, style, ovary).

Grafting

Joining two plants so they grow as one; scion on rootstock.

Scion

Upper portion/variety grafted onto rootstock.

Rootstock

Lower part providing the root system for grafting.

Topworking

Changing an existing cultivar to a new one by grafting/budding onto rootstock.

Graft incompatibility

No successful union due to genetic mismatch, disease, or adverse conditions.

Budding

Grafting technique using a bud or small piece of stem as the scion; bud used instead of a shoot.

Layering

A propagation method where the stem remains attached and roots form before detaching.

Shade house

Structure providing protection from direct sun to reduce light intensity.

Mist chambers

Structures delivering fine mists to maintain 95-98% humidity for cuttings.

Greenhouse

Controlled-environment structure for high survival and growth of propagated plants; may be heated or ventilated.