Garden Tool Set

Term and pronunciation Calyx (cal-ix)
Etymology From Latin and Greek meaning the outer covering of a bud, flower or fruit. Similar to the Latin calix, meaning cup.
 
Meaning
This is the collective term for all of the sepals of a flower.

Usage and examples

The calyx is the protective layer when the flower is enclosed in the bud. The sepals can be grown together or separate and are normally green. 

• The collective term for all of the petals in a flower is corolla.
• When the petals and the sepals look similar the term is tepals (for example, tulips)
• The collective term for the calyx and corolla is perianth. 

The (rather hairy) calyx of this common chickweed (Stellaria media) is clear to see as the petals are so small.

History
One of the first written examples that the OED has of calyx is that in 1686 by the proclaimed father of English natural history, John Ray, in his three volume History of Plants.

Bibliography 
"calyx, n.". OED Online. December 2012. Oxford University Press. 21 February 2013 <http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/26611?redirectedFrom=calyx&>.
Allaby, M. (2012) Oxford Dictionary of Plant Sciences, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
"Petal". Wikipedia. December 2012. Wikipedia.org. 21 February 2012
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petal>

Term and pronunciation Androecium (And-rhee-shee-um)
Etymology From Greek: meaning male house
 

Meaning
The androecium is the collection of stamens that make up the male reproductive organs in a flowering plant. The term for the female reproductive organs, containing the stigma, style and ovary, is gynoecium; a collective term for all of the carpels within a flower.

This illustrates the collection of stamen as androecium. Also shows gynoecium for comparison.

Usage and examples
There are three configurations that can occur:


The first is that the androecium may be borne together with the female reproductive organs within the same flower making the plant a hermaphrodite. In this case, the androecium will normally form a whorl around the gynoecium - as in the example of the hellebore to the left.

The second configuration is that the androecium may be borne on the same plant as the gynoecium; but not in the same flower. In this case the plant is a monoecious individual.

Lastly, the androecium and gynoecium can be borne on a different individuals, in which case the term for the plant is dioecious.


History
The OED website lists John Lindley as the earliest published use of the term androecium in his Introduction to Botany in 1839.

 
Bibliography
"andrœcium, n.". OED Online. December 2012. Oxford University Press. 5 February 2013 <http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/7321?redirectedFrom=androecium&>.
 Allaby, M. (2012) Oxford Dictionary of Plant Sciences, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Term and pronunciation Epipetalous (epee-peta-luss)
Etymology This word is a combination of the prefix - Epi combind with Petal and closed with the suffix Ous.
 
Meaning
The stalk of the stamen, the filament, grows upon the sides of the corolla.

Usage and examples
The corolla being the collective term for petals of the flower. Therefore this means that only the filament part of the stamen is fused to the petals; the anther is not connected to the petals.

Plants that show this type of growth include primulas and petunias

Here's an example from: http://herbarium.usu.edu/images/Dicots/Primulaceae/primula2.jpg

History
The earliest reference to the word epipetalous occurring in the OED Online is by John Lindley in the publication School Botany in 1839.

Bibliography 
"epipetalous, adj.". OED Online. December 2012. Oxford University Press. 12 March 2013 <http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/63444?redirectedFrom=epipetalous&>. 
"Stamen" Wikpedia.org. February 2013. Wikipedia 12 March 2013 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stamen>
"Primula2" Herbarium 14 March 2013 <http://herbarium.usu.edu/images/Dicots/Primulaceae/primula2.jpg> 

Term and pronunciation Indigenous

Etymology This word derives from the late Latin word of indigenus. It is a compound word made up of indigena and the suffix ous.

Meaning
Focussing on plants, this word is applied to species, that occurs naturally in an area. It means that the species has not been introduced to an area by humans, either accidentally or on purpose. A more common term that is often used interchangeably with indigenous is native.

The Alder, native to Britain.

Usage and examples
In Britain it is often said that native species are those that populated our islands during or after the most recent ice age and before the land bridge (known as Doggerland) between England and Europe became submerged due to rising sea levels. Species that have made their home in Britain after Doggerland was submerged are known as naturalised species. Naturalised plants, especially, have a bad reputation. While the sycamore tree is naturalised here and causes no real problems, species such as himalayan balsam is invasive and cannot be easily controlled. However, if the species reached a location or ecosystem via natural processes then it is indigenous.

Other examples of trees native to Britain are: alder, beech, cherry, dogwood, elder, willow, yew, etc.



History
1794 is the first plant related example of the use of indigenous. It was made by Samuel Williams in the The natural and civil history of Vermont whereby he describes a plant as being "indigenous only to China and Tartary". Tartary being what is now called the Great or Eurasian Steppe.

Bibliography
Allaby, M. (2012) Oxford Dictionary of Plant Sciences, Oxford, Oxford University Press
"indigenous, adj.". OED Online. March 2013. Oxford University Press. 17 April 2013 <http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/94474?redirectedFrom=indigenous&>.

Term and pronunciation Basipetal (Bay-sipit-al)
Etymology From Latin: Base + Petal - with the sense of moving in a specified direction.
 
Meaning
The growth or development from the apex (shoot tip and root tip) to the base. Meaning that the oldest parts are nearest the apex and the youngest parts are near the base. The opposite action is called acropetal where the youngest parts are at the apex.

Usage and examples


Basipetal movement:The plant growth regulator auxin has been shown to prefer basipetal movement.

Basipetal maturation: This is when the flowers mature in a downward fashion from the top of the stem. CRM over at WAB gave Button snakewort (Liatris spicata) as an example of a plant that flowers in this way.

History
The first written usage of basipetal as recorded by the OED is that published by Student in 1869 in reference to basipetal formation of foliary parts.

Bibliography 
"basipetal, adj.". OED Online. December 2012. Oxford University Press. 11 February 2013 <http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/15958?redirectedFrom=basipetal&>.
Allaby, M. (2012) Oxford Dictionary of Plant Sciences, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

Term and pronunciation Fen

Etymology Fen seems to be a very old word appearing in languages such as Old Norse, Old English, Old Frisian, and Old High German, among others.
 
Meaning
A fen, in the usages we're looking at today, is an area of wetland vegetation. They stay so wet due to water being received by rainfall and ground water flow.


Usage and examples
A fen is an ecosystem that creates peat. This is the fabled growth media for gardeners, the use of which is gradually being faded out by law. Leading many companies to investigate alternatives.

The fens are also well known areas for archaeologists as the anaerobic conditions found in the waterlogged soil prevent wood from decay. Flag Fen, first discovered by Francis Pryor, is one such site.

The fens are often confused with bogs. While bogs and fens both have peat in them, the fens have a greater water exchange and are less acidic, therefore their soils are higher in nutrients. Due to the acidic and low nutrient soils, bogs  are home to some carnivorous plants, such as the Common Butterwort (Pinguicula vulgaris), seen below. If you look closely, you can also see a sundew just below the leaf pointing directly left.

History
The earliest use of the word fen that the OED has on record is c888. It was used by Ælfred, King of the West Saxons and of the Anglo Saxons. He was important for speakers of English because he ordered the translation of many texts into the English spoken at the time. This was a dialect of Old English known as West Saxon English.

Bibliography
"fen, n.1". OED Online. March 2013. Oxford University Press. 19 March 2013 <http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/69207?rskey=loQjgC&result=1>.
 "Flag Fen" Wikipedia.org. March 2013. 19 March 2013 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_Fen>
Allaby, M. (2012) Oxford Dictionary of Plant Sciences, Oxford, Oxford University Press
Seargeant, P and Swann, J (Eds) Worlds of English, Abingdon, Routledge
 "Bogs, Fens and Pocosins " nhptv.org. 16 April 2013 <http://www.nhptv.org/natureworks/nwep7f.htm? 

Term and pronunciation Heterophyllous

Etymology Made up of the Greek word 'Hetero', 'Phyll' meaning leaf, and the suffix 'ous'.

Meaning
Heterophyllous in the realm of botany means a plant that displays different shaped leafs on the same plant. The opposite being isophylly, whereby all leafs on a plant show the same morphology.

Usage and examples
A prime example of a plant displaying heterophylly is that of the English Ivy (Hedera helix). The photos below show the plant displaying the juvenile leafs on the left. The photo to the right shows the adult leafs, which are associated with the flowers of the ivy. In the ivy, these changes are controlled by plant growth regulators called gibberellins. To read more about this in another post on this blog, click here.


History
The earliest example that the OED have on this word is that used by Noah Webster in the first edition of his An American dictionary of the English language in 1828. Noah Webster's dictionary was the turning point in the Americans having their own language, a national language as Webster explained in 1789. The main changes were that of spelling, for instance centre became center, and this became the origin of Standard American English.

Bibliography
Allaby, M. (2012) Oxford Dictionary of Plant Sciences, Oxford, Oxford University Press
"heterophyllous, adj.". OED Online. March 2013. Oxford University Press. 3 April 2013 <http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/86499?redirectedFrom=heterophyllous&>.
Seargeant, P and Swann, J (Eds) Worlds of English, Abingdon, Routledge

Term and pronunciation Girdling

Etymology This word comes from older variants of languages in use today, such as Old High German and Middle Dutch. In Old English the original word was a compound word made from the verb 'Gird' and the suffix 'le'. Gird meant to surround the waist.

Meaning
The usage that we're looking at today relates to the girdling of a plant. In this way the stem is cut right around its circumference cutting through the phloem. This means that the downward transport of substances, such as those created by photosynthesis, cannot happen. This can easily kill the plant.

Usage and examples
Diseases such as Phytophthora ramorum, discussed in the Wild Things television programme, uses girdling as part of its attack of susceptible trees. This can lead to the tree 'bleeding' and is discussed in this Forestry Commission video:

However, it is not just diseases that does this to plants. Animals, such as deer and birds, can girdle a plant during their normal grazing and even humans can  use this technique to encourage larger fruits.

An example of accidental girdling can happen when saplings are planted with support around their trunk. While there is lots of room to begin with, people may not return to remove the support and within a few years the friction caused by the support can act to girdle the tree. Below is an example of girdling:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:AnnelageAnn%C3%A9lationGirdling1LilleLamiot3.jpg

History
1662 is the earliest example of girdling relating to plants that the OED has records for. The comment was written by a J. Winthrop regarding trials of girdling trees. It seems that this may be a fairly recent usage of the word as J Winthrop says: "by girdling the tree (as they call it"

Bibliography
"girdle, v.". OED Online. March 2013. Oxford University Press. 28 March 2013 <http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/78469>.
"Girdling". Wikipedia Online. March 2013. Wikipedia.org. 28 March 2013 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Girdling>.
Allaby, M. (2012) Oxford Dictionary of Plant Sciences, Oxford, Oxford University Press

Term and pronunciation: Desertification
Etymology From Latin: A compound word made up of 'desert' meaning uninhabited and 'fication' an English suffix, using 'i' to connect the two.

Meaning
The expansion of formation of a desert.
While there are a few definitions of what makes a desert; primarily deserts can be either dry and hot, for example the Sahara desert, or dry and cold, such as Antarctica.

Usage and examples
Deserts can be created by:

• Climate change (shifts in major planetary pressure and wind systems)
• Poor land-use policy (removal of vegetation by overgrazing, leading to erosion and removal of top soil - or, indeed, deforestation)
• A complex interaction between the two (for example whereby overgrazing changes the albedo effect favouring increased dryness.

In the book to the BBC series Africa, Michael Bright discusses desertification in Africa. He notes that desertification was spotted in action in Africa in the 1940s. Andre Aubraville saw the process occurring due to the removal of trees in the buffer zone the desert to the north and the savannah to the south. To counter this there are many projects in Africa to replant trees, including the Great Green Wall initiative. A project that aims to reduce the "degradation of soils in the Sahel-Saharan region, focusing on a strip of land of 15 km (9 mi) wide and 7,100 km (4,400 mi) long from Dakar to Djibouti" (GEF, 2013) 

History
The first evidence that the OED record is that in the Annales Algériennes de Géographie in 1968. However, the BBC Africa book records Andre Aubreville using the term in 1949.

Bibliography
"desertification, n.". OED Online. December 2012. Oxford University Press. 27 February 2013 <http://www.oed.com/view/Entry/50784?redirectedFrom=desertification&>.
Allaby, M. (2012) Oxford Dictionary of Plant Sciences, Oxford, Oxford University Press.
"desertification". Wikipedia.org. February 2012. Oxford University Press. 27 February <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desertification#Causes >
"The Great Green Wall Initiative". GEF. Oxford University Press. 27 February 2013 <http://www.thegef.org/gef/great-green-wall>
Bright, M. (2012) Africa: Eye to eye with the unknown, London, Quercus Editions