Calcium
Calcium is an important soil tonic and it helps improve structure and bind organic and inorganic particles together. Calcium is also used at the growing points of plants to strengthen the cell membranes and to neutralize toxic materials. An easy way to add calcium is to use crushed empty egg shells.
Callus
Is a protective covering of hardened and thickened material that goes over the damaged area of the plant.
Calyx
Collective name for all the sepals of a flower, the modified leaves which surround and protect flower buds.
Campanulate
Term to describe flowers that bell or cup shaped with a broad base.
Canker
Dead cells on the branches or trunk of a woody plant - tree or shrub.
Capitata
A latin word used in plant naming meaning - head-shaped
Capitulum
Inflorescent often mistaken for a single flower head. It consists of two florets types; the Ray Floret that is often mistaken for a petal and Disc Floret found in the centre. All members of the Asteraceae family have this kind of inflorescence.
Caryopsis
The dry fruit of grasses
Catkin
A droopy cluster of stalkless and often unisexual flowers.
Chimara
A plant formed of the tissues of two different species mingled together. It generally shares the characteristics of the two parents.
Chinensis
A latin word used in plant naming meaning - coming from China
Chlorosis
Yellowing of leaves due to nutrient deficiency, most commonly a lack of nitrogen.
Cladode
Modified flattened stem that functions as a leaf. Easter cactus are a good example.
Climber
A plant that climbs on its own, using twining, gripping pads, tendrils or some other method to attach itself to structures or other plants. Plants that need to be trained to a support are properly called trailing plants, not climbers.
Cloche
A portable transparent plant cover or tunnel for plan rows to protect seedlings or young plants from frosts or cold winds. The use of cloches allows the sowing of some crops many weeks ahead of time, especially in late winter or spring. They can be made of framed glass or plastic over ribbed frames.
Clone
Plants that originate by vegetative propagation from a single plant and are, as a result, genetically identical to one another.
Cold Frame
Similar to a cloche but not portable, it is an low enclosing structure with a transparent top that protects young plants from cold while getting them established out of the greater warmth of a greenhouse - hardening off. Cold frames often have hinged tops to allow air flow during the day, but be closed at night.
Cole
Crops From the cabbage family, plants of the genus Brassica, including: cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage and turnips. Hence the German veggie Kohlrahbi,
Communis
A latin word used in plant naming meaning - common
Compost
Fully decayed vegetable matter with the appearance of soil that is used to improve both the texture and fertility of garden soil. Make it in your own garden - from your kitchen scraps and garden waste.
Compound Leaf
A leaf made up of two or more leaflets.
Concolour
A latin word used in plant naming meaning - coloured, of the same colour
Conferta
A latin word used in plant naming meaning - crowded or full
Conifer
A cone bearing tree of the pine family that is usually (but not always) evergreen
Contorta
A latin word used in plant naming meaning - twisted or contorted
Contractile Roots
The roots contract are found at the top of some tap roots. They pull the plant back into the soil making it harder to remove. Plants that have these roots include Dandelion and Cat's Ear.
Corm
An underground storage organ consisting of the swollen base of a stem, with roots attached to the underside.
Cormel
A small, underdeveloped corm, usually attached to a larger corm
Corolla
Collective name for all the petals of a flower, as opposed to the sepals. (not a car)
Corymb
An inflorescence where are the flowers appear to be the same height. The flowers that appear first at the base of the inflorescence have longer pedicels. Newer flowers produced along the stem have gradually decreasing length pedicels creating a flower clusters that looks flat.
Cotyledon(s)
The seed leaves, which are present before germination, as distinct from true leaves, which develop after germination.
Cover Crop
Usually a grass or legume planted to control weeds and erosion and is turned under while green to add organic matter and nutrients to the soil.
Crateriform
Term to describe flowers that are shaped like a shallow bowl, poppies are a good example of these.
Creeper
A plant that grows across the ground and up walls and fences. It sends out rootlets with sticky pads from the stem that allow it to attach to the walls eg. English Ivy
Crocks
Hard, chunky objects like stones, pebbles or broken clay pot pieces that are place in the base of a pot to keep the soil away from the drain-hole and aid drainage. Vegetative materials like chopped up twigs can also be used for short term potting.
Cross Pollination
The fertilization of the ovary on one plant with pollen from another plant, producing a progeny with a new genetic makeup distinct from either parent.
Crown
The base of a plant, where stem and root join, usually, but not always at ground level.
Cultivar
Variety strictly raised through horticultural processes, rather than in nature. Its name is not part of the Latin name. Strictly speaking, vegetable varieties should be known as cultivars.
Cutting
A piece of leaf, stem or root removed from a plant and prompted to develop into a new plant, genetically identical to the parent plant.
Cutworm
The larvae of several species of moths that pupate just beneath the surface of the soil. While in the larval stage they emerge at night and "cut down" seedlings, then devour them, leaving no evidence beyond the severed stem. Control is by putting one inch tall collars around the stem of newly set transplants so that the cutworms can't get to them
Cyathiform
Term to describe flowers that have a much deeper bowl shape as seen in tulips
Cyme
An inflorescence where the oldest flower is the terminal flower and all other flowers grow laterally below it.