Animal dispersal The scattering of seeds by animals. Fruits are eaten by animals, which disperse seeds in their droppings. Nuts are often buried and, if left uneaten, may germinate. Alternatively, seeds may latch on to animals’ fur using hooks or barbs.

Annual plant A plant that germinates, flowers and dies within one growing season (usually a year). Annual plants include corn, lettuce, beans and marigolds.

Anther The bag-like part at the tip of a stamen, where pollen is produced.

Aquatic plant A plant that lives in water.

Asexual reproduction Reproduction involving one parent plant, without pollination. A new shoot or root develops into a new plant identical to the parent.

Ballistic dispersal The explosive dispersal of seeds. The fruit squeezes to fling its seeds as far away as possible.

Berry In everyday language, a berry is a small, round, juicy fruit, containing pips or seeds instead of a pit or stone. Common examples are strawberries, raspberries, blueberries and blackcurrants. The botanical term "berry" is, however, different from common usage: it is a fruit produced from the ovary of a single flower, in which the ovary wall develops into the edible, fleshy part. This includes a number of fruits that are not usually called berries, e.g. grapes, tomatoes, cucumbers and bananas. In fact, by this definition, strawberries, raspberries and blackberries are not berries, but aggregate fruits.

Biennial plant A flowering plant that takes two years to complete its life cycle. In the first year, it stores energy obtained through photosynthesis. In the following year, it uses this energy to flower and make seeds. Biennials include hollyhocks and pansies.

Blossom Blossoms are the flowers of stone fruit trees (from the Prunus genus), together with some other types of fruit tree. They usually flower in spring. Peach, most cherry and some almond blossoms are pink, while plum, apple, orange blossoms, some cherry and most almond blossoms are white.

Botany The science of plant life. A branch of biology, it is also called plant science, plant biology or phytology. A scientist who specializes in this field is called a botanist.

Bryophyte A non-vascular plant, such as a moss, that absorbs water and minerals through its leaves and reproduces using spores.

Bud A small growth on a stem or branch that will develop into a flower, stem or leaf. In some plants, buds are enclosed within protective, modified leaves called scales until they are ready to grow.

Bulb A round, underground stem with thick leaves emerging from the top, and roots emerging from the bottom. The leaves store food between growing seasons. Tulips and onions grow from bulbs.

Cactus A succulent plant that has adapted to open its stomata (pores) only in the cool of the night. Most cacti are covered in spines to stop animals eating them. They are one of the few plants that flourish in deserts.

Carnivorous plant A plant that obtains nutrients by digesting animals. Carnivorous plants live in places where soils are lacking essential minerals. They trap animals using pitfall traps, sticky surfaces and snap traps.

Carpel The female reproductive organ of a flower, consisting of an ovary, style and stigma. Some flowers have one carpel, while others have a cluster of carpels, called a pistil.

Catkin A dangling cluster of flowers that disperse pollen via the wind. Catkins are found on willows, birches and oak trees.

Cellulose The substance that makes up most of a plant's cell walls. Cellulose molecules are polymers: they consist of long chains of glucose molecules. Cellulose fibres form a mesh that give strength and shape to the walls of cells forming a plant's leaves, roots and stems.

Chlorophyll A green pigment, present in all green plants, that absorbs sunlight and uses the sun’s energy to carry out photosynthesis.

Chloroplast A small structure within the cell of a plant that contains the pigment chlorophyll. Photosynthesis is carried out inside the chloroplasts of a plant.

Club moss A low-growing, green plant with scale-like leaves. Club mosses reproduce using spores.

Coconut The fruit of a coconut palm tree, a seed surrounded by a husk. It may fall into the sea and float to other beaches where it grows into more trees.

Compound leaf A leaf divided into smaller parts, called leaflets, joined to one stem.

Conifer A cone-bearing plant, also known as a gymnosperm. Conifers reproduce using seeds formed in scaly cones. All conifers are bushes or trees. Most have long, narrow leaves that do not fall in autumn.

Cotyledon A leaf-like structure, otherwise known as a seed leaf, that is present inside a seed before it germinates. After germination, the cotyledons begin the process of photosynthesis.

Cycad A palm-like woody plant that produces seeds via cones. Cycads are gymnosperms. Cycads grow in tropical regions and were common during the time of the dinosaurs.

Dicot A flowering plant with two cotyledons and petals in multiples of four or five. Most flowers, bushes and trees are dicots.

Dispersal The process by which a plant scatters its seeds.

Drupe A fruit in which an outer fleshy part surrounding a single pit or stone, with a seed (kernel) inside. Flowering plants that produce drupes include: coffee, mango, olive, most palms, pistachio, cashew and all members of the Prunus genus, including the almond, apricot, cherry, peach and plum. Another word for a drupe is stone fruit.

Embryo A young plant inside a seed.

Endosperm The part of a seed where food is stored for the developing embryo.

Epidermis The outermost layer of a plant, covering its leaves, stems, roots and petals. It protects the plant from damage and reduces the amount of water lost through evaporation. In the roots, the epidermis absorbs water and nutrients.

Epiphyte A plant that grows on other plants for support, typically to reach more light. Epiphytes collect rainwater and leaf litter, which provide them with nutrients. Epiphytes include bromeliads and orchids.

Fern A flowerless green plant with a long, stiff stem, and branching leaflets known as fronds. Ferns grow in damp places and can live in low light levels. Some tropical ferns grow as epiphytes.

Filament A stalk-like part of a flower that holds the male anther.

Flower The reproductive part of a flowering plant. Some flowers have both male and female organs, while others have only one or the other.

Flowering plant A plant, also known as an angiosperm, that flowers and produces fruits containing seeds.

Foliage The leaves of a plant.

Frond The leaf of a palm or fern, divided into multiple leaflets. Fronds grow from tightly coiled buds at the base of a plant. As the frond unrolls, its tiny leaflets open up and grow.

Fruit An outer coat surrounding a seed or seeds. It is formed from a flower’s ripe ovary and may be soft or hard. Some fruits have tasty flesh that attracts animals to eat them so they will disperse seeds in their droppings.

Germination The growth of a plant from a seed. Germination requires water, oxygen and a favourable temperature.

Ginkgo An ancient, non-flowering plant with fan-shaped leaves. The only surviving species of ginkgo is native to China.

Gnetophyte A woody, seed-bearing plant. Gnetophytes include: Ephedra, a shrub from the US; Gnetum, a tropical forest vine and Welwitschia, a cactus-like plant.

Guard cells Two crescent-shaped cells located either side of a plant’s stoma. The cells become larger or smaller to adjust the size of the stoma’s opening. Guard cells are activated by light so that they open the stomata during the day and close them at night to reduce water loss.

Hemiparasite A plant that obtains energy through both photosynthesis and by parasitic means. Mistletoe is a hemiparasite.

Herbaceous plant A plant whose leaves and stem die down to soil level at the end of the growing season. Herbaceous plants include irises, peonies and carrots.

Hornwort A flat bryophyte that releases spores from horn-shaped capsules.

Horsetail A spore-bearing vascular plant with a rigid, hollow stem. Horsetails are brush-like in appearance and are often found near rivers, lakes or swamps.

Leaf A flat surface on a plant where photosynthesis and transpiration take place. Most leaves are broad so that as much light as possible can fall on them.

Lichen Algae and fungi living together. The algae makes food via photosynthesis. The fungus gathers water and forms a protective layer over the algae. Because of this relationship, lichens are very hardy.

Liverwort A small, mat-like bryophyte. Liverworts have either simple leaves or flat green bodies that look like leaves.

Mesophyll The soft inner layer of a leaf below the epidermis. The upper layer of the mesophyll, called the palisade layer, contains chloroplasts for photosynthesis. The lower layer, called the spongy mesophyll layer, is where carbon dioxide, water vapour and sugars move around between cells.

Monocot A flowering plant with just one cotyledon and petals in multiples of three. Monocots (short for monocotyledons) include grasses, palms and bulbs such as lilies and tulips.

Moss A bryophyte with leafy stems. Many species spread across the ground, forming a mat.

Non-vascular plant A plant, such as a bryophyte, that has no tube-like vessels for carrying water and nutrients. Non-vascular plants normally live in damp places.

Nut A fruit with a very tough outer case.

Ovary A flower’s female reproductive organ where egg cells, or ovules, are produced. Once the eggs are fertilized by male cells (pollen), the ovaries begin to enlarge into fruit.

Parasitic plant A plant that takes water and nutrients from another plant, known as the host. Parasitic plants may attach themselves either to the outside or inside of the host.

Perennial plant A plant that lives for more than two years. Many smaller perennials are herbaceous. All trees and most shrubs are perennial.

Petal A leaf-like structure surrounding the reproductive parts of a flower. Together, the petals of a flower form the corolla. Petals are often brightly coloured to attract insects, which pollinate flowers as they move from plant to plant to drink nectar.

Phloem The tissue inside vascular plants that carries sugars made by photosynthesis from the leaves to the rest of the plant.

Photosynthesis The process by which green plants use sunlight as an energy source to combine carbon dioxide from the air and water from the soil to make sugars plants use as food. Plants use this sugar to power their life activities. Photosynthesis also produces oxygen, which seeps out into the air.

Plant An organism that obtains energy from sunlight by photosynthesis. Plants do not have sensory organs and, although they can grow towards light or water, they cannot move freely around their environment.

Pollen Tiny, dust-like particles produced by anthers. Pollen contains the male sex cells.

Pollination The transfer of pollen from the male to the female parts of a flower. Pollen grains are light and many are carried in the air. Others are sticky and carried by animals that drink nectar from flowers.

Rhizoid A root-like structure in plants such as mosses. Rhizoids may anchor a plant to the ground, absorb water, or both. Unlike true roots, rhizoids do not contain vascular tissue (xylem and phloem).

Rhizome A horizontal stem that grows beneath the ground. Shoots and roots grow from the rhizome.

Rhizosphere The volume of soil immediately surrounding a plant's roots. Here a highly diverse concentration of micro-organisms, which feed off the proteins and sugars released by the roots, break down organic material in the soil into simple compounds which the plant absorbs as nutrients. 

Root hairs Fine growths at the tip of each root. They increase the surface area of roots so they can take up more nutrients.

Root The part of a vascular plant that normally grows below ground. Roots anchor a plant and take in water and dissolved minerals from the soil. The first root to grow is the primary root, which then sprouts sideways lateral roots.

Seed A small case, containing an undeveloped plant embryo and a supply of food. This provides energy for the plant to grow until it develops the ability to photosynthesize.

Sepal A small, green, leaf-like structure beneath the petals of a flower. The sepals protect the flower when it is in bud.

Shoot A new growth on part of a plant.

Shrub A low-lying plant with woody stems branching out from a base just above the ground.

Simple leaf A leaf not divided into leaflets.

Spores Tiny, dust-like particles that grow into new plants. Non-flowering plants such as ferns reproduce using spores, as do fungi. Each spore contains DNA contained within a protective coat.

Stamen The male reproductive part of a flower, consisting of an anther and filament.

Stem The long, stiff part of a vascular plant that supports its leaves, flowers, fruits or cones. It contains tissues that carry water and nutrients around the plant.

Stigma The part of the carpel at the end of the style, were pollen is received.

Stoma (plural: stomata) A tiny hole on the underside of a leaf, through which carbon dioxide enters and oxygen seeps out.

Stone A large hard seed inside a fleshy fruit.

Style The long, thin part of the carpel connecting the ovary to the stigma.

Succulent A plant that stores water in its stem, leaves or roots. Most succulents have small leaves and waxy surfaces in order to prevent water loss.

Tendril A modified leaf used by climbing plants to wrap around objects for support.

Testa The protective layer around a seed, also known as the seed coat.

Transpiration The controlled release of water as vapour through a plant’s stoma. Loss of water in the leaves creates suction, which draws up water from the roots. This water carries nutrients absorbed by the roots around the rest of the plant.

Tropism The growth or slight movement of a plant in response to a change in its environment. For example, phototropism is the movement of a plant towards or away from light and geotropism is the growth of a plant in response to gravity.

Tuber A thick, underground stem or root that stores food for the next growing season. Potatoes are a type of stem tuber.

Vascular plant A plant with tiny, tube-like vessels that carry water, nutrients and sugar around its body. Vascular plants all have roots, stems and leaves.

Vascular tissue Xylem and phloem tissues that carry water, and minerals and sugars dissolved in it, around vascular plants.

Veins Xylem and phloem cells in a leaf that support its structure and transport water and nutrients to all of its cells.

Vine A plant with a long, thin stem that climbs up other plants, rocks or other structures for support.

Water dispersal The movement of seeds away from their parent plants via water. Most aquatic plants and some land plants use water as a means of dispersal.

Wind dispersal The movement of seeds away from the parent plant via the wind. Some seeds, such as dandelions, have fluffy “parachutes” to help them stay in the air and therefore drift further away. Others, such as sycamores, have “winged” seeds that twirl away from the tree as they fall.

Xylem The tissue in vascular plants that carries water and dissolved minerals from a plant’s roots to the rest of the plant. This liquid is called sap.

Consultant: Chris Jarvis