Glossary - C
Here you will find a glossary of garden terms that start with the letter C.
- Cage - an enclosure used to support a plant.
- Calcitic limestone - a material used to add lime to soil that is too acidic.
- Calcium carbonate - a soil additive that is neutralizes acid, and raises the pH of the soil.
- Callus - wound tissue.
- Calyx - the outer ring of flower parts; this and the corolla are the perianth.
- Cambium - the tissue in a plant that produces new cells.
- Campanulate - meaning a flower is bell-shaped.
- Candle - the new shoot growth on needled evergreens before the needles expand.
- Cane - a one-year shoot on a grapevine.
- Canker - a bacterial or fungal disease of woody plants, it causes the cambium to gradually die, leaving a scar.
- Canopy - the top layer of a tree including branches and foliage.
- Capillary action - a force that causes liquids to rise or fall when inside very small tubular spaces.
- Capsule - a dry fruit that has many seeds inside.
- Captan - a fungicide used to control rose black spot.
- Carbon dioxide, CO2, - a colorless, odorless gas found in the air. It is absorbed by plants and exhaled by animals.
- Carnivore - a flesh-eating animal.
- Carpel - a single pistil in a female flower part containing several pistils.
- Caterpillar - worm-like larva of various insects, especially butterflies and moths.
- Catkin - a slender, spike-like, drooping raceme of densely packed flowers or fruits, usually petalless.
- Caudiform - a plant with a fleshy swollen base that's not a true flower bulb.
- Cell - the unit of plants that make up tissues. Cells have a cell wall that encloses the protoplasm.
- Cell pack - a plastic container with 4 to 6 annual plants, ready for transplanting.
- Central leader - the dominant, central stem of a tree.
- Charcoal - a soil additive used to increase moisture intake and make the soil more alkaline.
- Chlorophyll - green pigments in plants that facilitate photosynthesis.
- Chlorosis - yellowing or blanching of plant leaves from a lack of chlorophyll.
- Cladode - a modified stem that has taken on the form of a leaf.
- Clay aggerate - a soil replacement for hydroponic gardening.
- Clay soil - soil with very small, flat particles that pack together and reduce water drainage. It is hard when it's dry and sticky when it's wet. Peat soil amendment can be used to improve clay soil texture.
- Climate - the seasonal range of weather; ie: temperature, precipitation, wind, etc.
- Climbers - vine plants that grow on or over structures.
- Cloche - a transparent plant cover used to protect plants from cold temperatures.
- Clone - a propagation method where plants are genetically taken from single mother plant, so they are all identical.
- Club Root - a fungal disease of the Brassicaceae family, caused by the slime mold fungus.
- Clump forming - a plant that has few stolons, growing in a small bunch or clump; ie: bunchgrass. Usually not invasive.
- Cold composting - composting under conditions where the temperatures do not rise to 140 degrees fahrenheit.
- Cold frame - a glass-covered frame without artificial heat used to protect plants and seedlings.
- Cole crops - members of the cabbage family; ie: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, collards and kohlrabi.
- Collar - a band of material used as a mechanical barrier to protect a plant from damage by insects.
- Color chart - a standard set of plant pigment colors used for accurate descriptions.
- Common name - the name by which most gardeners know a plant.
- Compaction - a state where soil particles are forced closely together, reducing pore space.
- Companion planting - growing plants together that have traits which benefit one another.
- Complete fertilizer - a plant food which has all three of the primary elements - nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium.
- Complete metamorphosis - changes in body form of insects that include egg, larva, pupa and adult; also known as complex metamorphosis.
- Composite - members of the Asteraceae family; they have many individual florets clustered into a common head.
- Compost - a mixture of decayed organic matter used for fertiling, mulching and/or improving a soil's structure.
- Compost tea - a low-nutrient liquid that results from placing plant debris in water and allowing it to decompose.
- Composted manure - animal feces that have been aged in a pile, allowing much of the nitrogen to leach from the feces. A nonburning organic fertilizer.
- Compound flower - a flower with many florets.
- Compound leaf - a leaf with two or more separate leaflets.
- Cone - the seed-holding structure of trees; ie: pines and spruce.
- Conifer - a cone-bearing plant.
- Conservatory - a building, usually made all of glass that is attached to the house where a large number of plants are grown.
- Contact insecticide - a poison that must contact the body of the insect to be controlled.
- Container gardening - planting in flower pots or containers, instead of in the ground.
- Contractile - drawing together resulting in decreased size or bulk.
- Cool-season grass - a crop that grows best during the cool temperatures of spring and fall.
- Cordon - horizontal branches of a grapevine trained along the trellis; also called the arms. The canes left after pruning which will produce fruiting shoots and new canes.
- Core aeration - increasing air penetration of the soil by removing plugs of soil. A heavy machine with hollow prongs is moved across a lawn pushing the prongs into the soil and pulling out plugs of soil.
- Corm - a short, thickened, underground, upright stem in which food is stored.
- Cormel - a small corm that forms around the parent corm. It can be removed and planted to propogate a new plant.
- Cotyledon - the leaf or leaves of the embryo, also called seed leaves.
- Cover crop - a crop that improves the soil in which it is grown.
- Crop rotation - growing crops of a specific family in different areas of the garden each year to avoid soil-borne diseases and nutrient depletion.
- Cross-pollination - the transfer of pollen from one plant to the stigma of another plant.
- Crotch - the angle measured from the trunk of a tree to the upper surface of a branch.
- Crown - the part of a plant where the root and the stem meet.
- Culinary - used in cooking.
- Cultivar - also cultivated variety; a subdivision of a species, a result of human-manipulated hybridization.
- Cultivation - preparation of the soil for growing plants.
- Cultural control - the use of good gardening techniques to control pest populations.
- Cuticle - a waxy or varnish-like layer covering the outer surface of leaves.
- Cutin - the waxy or varnish-like material that makes up the cuticle.
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