Botanical Words Alphabetical List - CU
CULLION: An orchid.
CULM: The jointed and usually hollow stem of grasses. It is in most cases herbaceous but is woody in the bamboo and some other stout species. The term is also sometimes applied to the solid, jointless stems of sedges.
CULTIGEN: A cultivated plant or group of specific rank for which a wild ancestor isn't known. (i.e. Zea Mays)
CULTIVAR: A contraction of "cultivated variety" (abbreviated to cv); a group (or one among such a group) of cultivated plants clearly distinguished by one or more characteristics and which retains these characteristics when propagated; a distinct variety or race of plants that originated under cultivation and persists under cultivation. A cultivar may or may not be referable to a botanical species. Cultivars are given a name, usually distinguished by the use of single quotation marks, as in Zinnia elegans 'Tom Thumb'. Named varieties of hybrid Tea Roses and of garden Apples are examples of cultivars.
CUNEATE: Wedge-shaped.
CUPULE: A cup-shaped involucre, occurring especially in the Oak, Beech, Chestnut and Hazel, formed by fused bracts.
CUSP: A sharp, stiff point.
CUSPIDATE: Ending in a rigid point. An example is a leaf that is tipped with a sharp point or spine, such as the leaves of thistles.
CUT-AND-COME-AGAIN: Any plant that is cut or sheared after flowering and blooms again (i.e. Petunia, Pansy). Said of plants that continue to bloom when flowers are removed or cut.
CUT BACK: To prune.
CUT FLOWERS: Flowers that are cut off the plant and used as decoration, usually indoors in a vase of water along with other flowers.
CUTTING: A section of a plant that is removed and used for propagation. A cutting may consist of a whole or part of a stem (leafy or nonleafy), leaf, bulb or root. A root cutting consists of root only; other cuttings have no roots at the time they are made and inserted. A propagation that consists of part of the crown of a plant or of its aboveground portion and roots is called a division (go see).
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