Botanical Words Alphabetical List - IN
INARABLE: Not arable; not capable of being plowed or tilled.
INARCH: To graft by uniting a scion to the stock, without separating the scion from its parent tree.
INARCHING: This is a method of grafting new plant growth onto a stronger root system by establishing young plants (usually, one that is in a pot) near an existing tree and at the point where they meet, removing matching areas of bark. The two cut surfaces are then fitted together and bound with soft tying material until they grow together and can be gradually separated with the new branches attached to the older rootstock.
INBREED: To breed from individuals of the same parentage or closely related.
INBREEDING: Deliberate self-pollination of a plant by transferring pollen from one of its flowers to the stigma of the same flower or to another flower of the same plant. Repeating this process for several generations ensures that the line will breed true.
INCANOUS: Whitish or grayish.
INCISED: Sharply and usually deeply and irregularly cut, such as the edge of a leaf.
INCLUDED: Not sticking out or projecting, as when pistils are included in the corolla.
INCUBOUS: Overlapping, like shingles.
INCUMBENT: Lying on another organ, such as an incumbent anther lying against a filament.
INCURVED: Applied to petals and florets that curve inward to form a compact, rounded shaped.
INDECIDUOUS: Not deciduous; not losing its leaves annually; evergreen, as trees.
INDEHISCENT: Fruits that don't burst open; not popping or splitting open spontaneously when mature, as a capsule or an anther.
INDETERMINATE: A plant part that continues to grow while flowering, such as indeterminate tomatoes, which continue to grow until they die, or a flower spike that continues to grow longer while it's lower blossoms open.
INDIGENOUS: Native; not exotic.
INDOOR GARDENING: The art of growing plants indoors using natural and/or artificial light.
INDUMENTUM: Thick hairy covering.
INDUPLICATE: Rolled inward, as the leaves in a bud.
INDUSIUM: A small flap covering the sori, or fruit dots, in ferns; a collection of hairs united so as to form a sort of cup and enclosing the stigma of a flower.
INFERIOR: Below; beneath; lower.
INFERIOR OVARY: A basal, ovule-bearing part of a pistil borne below the point of attachment of the perianth and stamens.
INFILTRATION RATE: The rate of water controlled by surface conditions that enters the soil.
INFLATED: Enlarged or swelled out, as an inflated perianth.
INFLORESCENCE: A group of flowers borne on a single axis (stem). Examples are: umbel, spike, panicle, corymb, and so on.
INFRAFOLIAR: Below the leaves, as infrafoliar flowers.
INFRARED MULCH: A plastic sheet that is placed around plants to warm the soil by infrared radiation and to inhibit weed growth by blocking most visible radiation.
INFRASPECIFIC: Referring to categories of classification below that of species, such as subspecies.
INFRUCTESCENCE: The fruiting stage of a plant.
INFUNDIBULIFORM: Having the form of a funnel.
INGRAFT: To insert, as a scion of one tree or plant into another, for propagation. Also spelled engraft.
INORGANIC: 1. Not natural; artificial. 2. Composed of other than animal or plant matter; mineral.
INORGANIC FERTILIZER: A chemical fertilizer that quickly releases nitrogen into the soil.
INORGANIC NITROGEN: The element nitrogen in combination with other mineral elements.
INSECTICIDAL SOAP: A low-toxicity pesticide made from the salts of fatty acids. It kills soft-bodied insects, like aphids, spider mites, thrips, and whiteflies, by disrupting cell membranes. (You can make your own by mixing 2 tablespoons dishwashing detergent in 1 gallon of water.) It may burn foliage in hot weather. It is sometimes combined with other materials, such as citrus oil or sulfur, to increase efficiency. Complete coverage of the plant is necessary for it to work.
INSECTICIDE: An agent that kills insects; specifically, that which kills insect pests of plants and humans.
INSECTIVOROUS (plants): Plants that are specially adapted for catching insects. Most, but not all, are grown for interest rather than beauty. Once their prey is captured, the plants secrete a fluid, which breaks down the insect's bodies so that they may be absorbed as plant food. The following are few examples of insectivorous plants: Dionaea (Venus's Flytrap), Nepenthes, Sarracenia (Pitcher Plant), Darlingtonia (California Pitcher Plant) and Utricularia (Bladderwort). (Go see.)
INSERTED: Attached, as a stamen on a corolla.
INSERTION: The place or manner of attachment, as the insertion of petals.
INTAKE RATE: The rate at which rain or water enters the soil. Expressed in inches per hour.
INTEGUMENT: The outer envelope of an ovule, which, with other parts, forms the seed coat.
INTER-: Between or among.
INTERAXILLARY: Situated between or within the axils of leaves.
INTERFOLIACEOUS: Situated between the leaves, especially opposite leaves. Also interfoliar.
INTERNODE: The part of stem that lies between two nodes or joints on a plant.
INTRA-: Within or inside.
INTRAZONAL: A term used to describe a soil group with characteristics determined by local factors, such as parent material.
INTRORSE: Turned or facing inward, such as an introrse anther facing toward the center of the flower.
INVERTED: Upside down.
INVOLUCEL: A secondary involucre in a compound cluster of flowers, as in many of the Umbelliferae.
INVOLUCRAL: Pertaining to an involucre.
INVOLUCRATE: Having an involucre.
INVOLUCRE: A collection of whorls of small leaves or bracts beneath a flower or an inflorescence.
INVOLUCRIFORM: Resembling an involucre.
INVOLUTE: Rolled inward, as the edge of a leaf.
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