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horticulture

(Encyclopedia)horticulture [Lat. hortus=garden], science and art of gardening and of cultivating fruits, vegetables, flowers, and ornamental plants. Horticulture generally refers to small-scale gardening, and agric...

seed

(Encyclopedia)seed, fertilized and ripened ovule, consisting of the plant embryo, varying amounts of stored food material, and a protective outer seed coat. Seeds are frequently confused with the fruit enclosing th...

pea

(Encyclopedia)pea, hardy, annual, climbing leguminous plant (Pisum sativum) of the family Leguminosae (pulse family), grown for food by humans at least since the early Bronze Age; no longer known in the wild form. ...

tomato

(Encyclopedia)tomato, plant (Lycopersicon esculentum) of the family Solanaceae (nightshade family), related to the potato and eggplant. Although cultivated in Mexico and Peru for centuries before the European conqu...

transplanting

(Encyclopedia)transplanting, in horticulture, the process of removing a plant from the place where it has been growing and replanting it in another. The major requirement in transplanting (especially of larger plan...

yarrow

(Encyclopedia)yarrow, a plant of the genus Achillea, perennial herbs of the family Asteraceae (aster family), native to north temperate regions. Several species are cultivated as ornamentals for their flat-topped c...

sweet pea

(Encyclopedia)sweet pea, annual climbing plant (Lathyrus odoratus) of the family Leguminosae (pulse family), a legume native to S Europe but, since its introduction to horticulture c.1700, widely cultivated for its...

Nägeli, Karl Wilhelm von

(Encyclopedia)Nägeli or Naegeli, Karl Wilhelm von both: kärl vĭlˈhĕlm fən nāˈgəlē [key], 1817–91, Swiss botanist. He was professor at the Univ. of Munich from 1858 and was noted especially for his work ...

Sachs, Julius von

(Encyclopedia)Sachs, Julius von fə zäks [key], 1832–97, German botanist. A professor at the Univ. of Würzburg from 1868, he was a founder of experimental plant physiology. He demonstrated the importance of tra...

soma

(Encyclopedia)soma sōˈmə [key], psychotropic plant, the juice of which was sometimes drunk as part of the Vedic sacrifice (see Veda). Many hymns in the Rig-Veda are in praise of soma. In the late Vedic period su...

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