| adelgids | a family of aphid-like insects that feed exclusively on conifers and typically are covered with white waxy material. |
| aesthetic | has to do with appearance; beauty. |
| alkaline | having a basic reaction, that is containing the OH- radical and turning red litmus blue when in solution. |
| alternate | an arrangement of leaves or other parts not opposite or whorled; parts situated one at a node, as leaves on a stem; like parts succeeding each other singly with a common structure. |
| alternate host | one of two kinds of plants on which a parasitic insect or fungus (e.g., rust) must develop to complete its life cycle. |
| annual | maturing and living one season only. |
| anthers | pollen-bearing part of a stamen, borne at the top of a filament, or sessile. |
| anthracnose | a leaf-, stem-, or fruit-spot type of disease caused by fungi that produce their asexual spores in an acervulus. |
| appendages | subordinate or derivative body parts. |
| armyworms | caterpillar species closely related to cutworms. They often move in mass through crop stands while stripping plants of their foliage. |
| auricles | an ear-shaped lobe, generally used to describe the base of leaves or petals. |
| axils | the main stem or central support of a plant. |
| bacteria | a unicellular microscopic organism that lacks chlorophyll and multiples by fission. |
| bacterial | a unicellular microscopic organism that lacks chlorophyll and multiples by fission. |
| bacterium | a unicellular microscopic organism that lacks chlorophyll and multiples by fission. |
| basal | pertaining to the extremity of an organ by which it is attached to its support; said of leaves when at base of plant only. See rosette. |
| biennial | of two season's duration, normally flowering, fruiting and dying the second growing season from time of seed germination. |
| blight | a disease characterized by general and rapid killing of leaves, flowers, and stems. |
| bracts | a much-reduced leaf, often scale-like and usually associated with a flower or inflorescence. |
| callus | a mass of thin-walled cells, usually developed as the result of wounding or infection. |
| caltrop | an herb with spiny pods; I.e., puncturevine |
| calyx | the outer set of perianth segments or floral envelope of a flower, usually green in color and smaller than the inner set. |
| cambium | A one- or two-celled layer between the phloem and xylem that produces both these tissues and results in diameter growth. |
| canes | a long woody pliable stem rising from the ground. |
| canker | a necrotic, often sunken lesion on a stem, branch, or twig of a plant. |
| cast skins | the outer layer of an exoskeleton shed by an insect or mite and seen on leaves or twigs. |
| castings | fecal material; caterpillar pellets. |
| caterpillar | in general, the larvae of Lepidoptera; in Hymenoptera, the larva of the saw-flies. |
| chlorosis | of plants, fading of the color of the chlorophyll of plant leaves, caused by environmental stress, chemical deficiency, disease, insects, or mites. |
| chlorotic | of plants, fading of the color of the chlorophyll of plant leaves, caused by environmental stress, chemical deficiency, disease, insects, or mites. |
| cocoon | a covering, composed partly or wholly of silk or other viscid fiber, spun or constructed by many larvae as a protection to the pupa. |
| crawlers | the first stage (nymph) out of the egg of certain plant lice (scales, adelgids, etc.). This stage is quite mobile, while subsequent nymphal stages are stationary. |
| cultivars | an organism of a kind (as a variety, strain, or race) that has originated and persisted under cultivation. |
| cultivated | maintained by humans. |
| cutworms | caterpillar stage of the night flying "millers" or noctuid moths. |
| deciduous | refers to trees or shrubs that shed leaves completely at the end of the annual growth period. |
| defoliation | the loss of needles or leaves due to pest activity, disease, or negative environmental response. |
| delayed dormant | time of year when dormancy is about to end; characterized by the beginning of bud swell. |
| desiccation | the drying or loss of moisture from a leaf or plant part. |
| dieback | progressive death of shoots, branches, and roots generally starting at the tip. |
| dioecious | having unisexual flowers, each sex confined to a separate plant, said of species. |
| distorted | taking on a shape that is unnatural. |
| distortion | taking on a shape that is unnatural. |
| drought | periods or conditions that demonstrate the lack of moisture or rain. |
| ELISA | a test in which an antibody carries an enzyme that releases a colored compound, signifying the presence of the pathogen. |
| endophyte | an organism that grows within a plant. |
| eradicate | to do away with completely. |
| eriophyid | a family of tiny plant feeding mites that possess only 4 legs; they are highly host specific (feeding on only one species) and their damage is predictable and often dramatic. |
| evergreen | having green foliage throughout the year. |
| excrement | the waste products eliminated by an insect, principally from digestion; feces. |
| excreta | the waste products eliminated by an insect, principally from digestion; feces. |
| fasciation | a symptom characterized by fusing (and flattening) of such plant organs as stems. |
| fertile (stems) | capable of producing fruit and seed. |
| flag | the loss of rigidity and drooping of leaves and tender shoots preceding the wilting of a plant. |
| flagging | the loss of rigidity and drooping of leaves and tender shoots preceding the wilting of a plant. |
| flocked | covered with white cottony material so as appear like snow. |
| frass | solid larval insect excrement. |
| fruiting bodies | complex fungal structures containing spores. |
| fungal | referring to a group of saprophytic and/or parasitic organisms that lack chlorophyll and conductive tissues, and often produce spores. Includes molds, rusts, mushrooms, smuts, mildews, and yeasts. |
| fungi | saprophytic and/or parasitic organisms that lack chlorophyll and conductive tissues, and often produce spores. Includes molds, rusts, mushrooms, smuts, mildews, and yeasts. |
| fungus | a saprophytic and/or parasitic organism that lacks chlorophyll and conductive tissues, and often produces spores. Includes molds, rusts, mushrooms, smuts, mildews, and yeasts. |
| galls | an overgrowth of plant tissue. |
| girdled | showing mechanical damage (often from pests) to tree or shrub trunks or limbs that results in inability of cambial tissue to transport nutrients to roots. |
| girdling | mechanical damage (often from pests) to tree or shrub trunks or limbs that results in inability of cambial tissue to transport nutrients to roots. |
| gland | a general term applied to oil-secreting organs, or sometimes an obtuse projection or a ring a base of a structure. |
| gnarled | knotty and twisted. |
| growth regulator | a natural substance that regulates or interferes with growth functions in plants and insects. |
| grubs | an insect larva; a term loosely applied, but more specifically to larvae of Coleoptera (beetles) and Hymenoptera (wasps, etc.). |
| herbaceous | having no persistent woody stem above ground. |
| honeydew | a sweetish excretion produced by certain insects notably aphids and scales; also an exudate from the surface of some galls. |
| hornworm | the immature stage or caterpillar of the hummingbird or sphinx moth family; characterized by having a rhino-like horn on the tail end. |
| immatures | usually the larval or nymphal stages of various insect groups. |
| infection | the establishment of a parasite within a host. |
| larva | a young insect which quits the egg in an early stage of morphological development and differs fundamentally in form from the adult; in a strict zoological sense, the immature form of animals which undergo complete metamorphosis. |
| larvae | a young insect which quits the egg in an early stage of morphological development and differs fundamentally in form from the adult; in a strict zoological sense, the immature form of animals which undergo complete metamorphosis. |
| larval | a young insect which quits the egg in an early stage of morphological development and differs fundamentally in form from the adult; in a strict zoological sense, the immature form of animals which undergo complete metamorphosis. |
| leaflet | a foliar element of a compound leaf. |
| leafminer | refers to the feeding style of certain flies, caterpillars that feed between the upper and lower surfaces of leaves resulting in blotching or snake-like passages. |
| ligule | (1) a strap-shaped organ; (2) (in grasses) a minute projection from the top of the leaf sheath; (3) the strap-shaped corolla in the ray flowers of Composites. |
| lobes | a projecting part or segment of an organ as in a lobed ovary or stigma; usually a division of a lf., calyx, or petals cut to about the middle (I.e. midway between margin and midrib. |
| looper | a geometrid or other caterpillar in which some or all the middle abdominal legs are wanting and which moves by bringing tail to thorax and forming a loop of the intervening segments. |
| maggot | the legless larva of Diptera. |
| membranous | parchment-like texture |
| midge | name for certain fly families. |
| midrib/midvein | the primary-rib or mid-vein of a leaf or leaflet. |
| mildew | a fungal disease of plants in which the mycelium and spores of the fungus are seen as a powdery or downy growth on the host surface. |
| mutation | something qualitatively new appearing abruptly without transitional forms or slow development; a sport; a potential species. |
| mycelia | several hyphae, perhaps a considerable mass of hyphae, that make up the vegetative body of a fungus. |
| mycelium | a hypha or mass of hyphae that make up the vegetative body of a fungus. |
| native | inherent and original to an area. |
| necrosis | in a dead and decayed condition; of or pertaining to necrosis. |
| necrotic | in a dead and decayed condition; of or pertaining to necrosis. |
| needle miner | see leafminer (needle miners are only seen on conifers). |
| nematodes | generally, microscopic, wormlike animals that live saprophytically in water or soil, or as parasites of plants and animals. |
| nocturnal | of the night; applied to insects that fly or are active at night. |
| nodes | a joint on a stem, represented by point of origin of a leaf or bud; sometimes represented by a swollen or constructed ring, or by a distinct leaf scar. |
| nymphs | young insects which quit the egg in a relatively advanced stage of morphological development, differing from the adult in having the wings and the genitalia present only in an incompletely developed conditions; a young stage of insects with an incomplete metamorphosis, (e.g., stinkbugs, aphids, etc.). |
| oedema | a blister formation due to an increase in intercellular water in leaves. |
| opposite | two at a node, as leaves. |
| overwinters | survives the winter in a protected place in a state of physiological "shut-down". |
| oxalate/oxalic acid | a very strong acid. (COOH)2 |
| palmate | digitate, radiating, fan-like from a common point, as leaflets of a palmately compound lf. or veins or palmately-veined lf. |
| panicle | an indeterminate infl. whose primary axis bears branches of pedicelled fls. (at least basally so); a branching raceme. |
| parasites | any organisms that live in or on, or at the expense of another; organisms living in such a way as to derive all nourishment from the tissues of the host. |
| parasitic | referring to any organism that lives in or on, or at the expense of another; referring to an organism living in such a way as to derive all nourishment from the tissues of the host. |
| perennial | having a life cycle of three or more years. |
| petiole | a stem or stalk; the slender segment between the thorax and abdomen in certain Diptera and many Hymenoptera; in the latter, a pedicel formed of only one segment, or the first segment of a two-segmented pedicel in ants; in plants, the slender stalk of a leaf. |
| pheromone | chemical emitted to air currents by an insect to stimulate behavior of other members of species (e.g., mating pheromone). |
| photosensitive | responsive (sensitive) to light. |
| physiological | resulting from some unfavorable physical or environmental factor (e.g., light, temperature, water, soil nutrients, chemical, physical, or mechanical injury). |
| predacious | any animal that eats others; living by preying upon other organisms, as certain insects. |
| predators | any animal that eats others; living by preying upon other organisms, as certain insects. |
| predatory | any animal that eats others; living by preying upon other organisms, as certain insects. |
| prostrate | lying flat on the ground; a general term. |
| pupa | the resting inactive instar in all holometabolous insects; the intermediate stage between the larva and the adult; applied to all insect orders with complete metamorphosis. |
| pupae | the resting inactive instar in all holometabolous insects; the intermediate stage between the larva and the adult; applied to all insect orders with complete metamorphosis. |
| pupate | the resting inactive instar in all holometabolous insects; the intermediate stage between the larva and the adult; applied to all insect orders with complete metamorphosis. |
| regenerate | to reform; to regrow. |
| rhizomes | an underground stem distinguishable from a root by presence of nodes, buds or scale-like leaves. |
| rhizomorphs | a compact bundle of hyphae that has an outer covering and serves as a survival structure. |
| rosette | a crown of leaves radiating from a stem and at or close to the surface of the ground. |
| rosetting | short, bunchy habit of plant growth. |
| row covers | fine netting placed over plants to prevent insects from getting at them (e.g. Agrinet, Remay, etc.). |
| russet | brownish roughened areas on skin of fruit as a result of cork formation. |
| russetting | brownish roughened areas on skin of fruit as a result of cork formation. |
| rust | a disease giving a "rusty" appearance to a plant and caused by one of the rust fungi. |
| sanitation | the removal and burning of infected plant parts, decontamination of tools, equipment, hands, etc. |
| saturated | full to capacity; in soil - very wet. |
| sawfly | not a fly - a primitive wasp. |
| scab | a roughened, crustlike diseased area on the surface of a plant organ or the common name of a disease in which such areas form. |
| scorch | "burning" of leaf margins as a result of infection or unfavorable environmental conditions. |
| sepals | one of the units comprising the calyx; a usually green foliaceous element subtending the corolla. |
| serrations | "tooth-like" edge at leaf margin. |
| sheaths | any elongated, more or less tubular structure enveloping an organ or part. |
| shepherds crook | appears like the handle or bent end of a walking cane. |
| shothole | a symptom in which small diseased fragments of leaves fall off and leave small holes in their place or small holes in wood resulting from beetle boring. |
| silica | silicon dioxide (SiO2) |
| skeletonize | feeding by certain insects which leads to the elimination of all or most of the leaf tissue - often leaving only the veins. |
| smut | a disease caused by the smut fungi, characterized by masses of dark, powdery spores. |
| sooty mold | a sooty coating on foliage and fruit formed by the dark hyphae of fungi that live in the honeydew secreted by insects such as aphids, mealybugs, scales, and whiteflies. |
| spikelets | (1) a secondary spike; (2) one part of a compound inflorescence which of itself is spicate; (3) the floral unit, or ultimate cluster, of a grass inflorescence comprised of flowers and their subtending bracts. |
| spikes | (1) a usually unbranched, elongated, simple, indeterminate inflorescence whose flowers are sessile; the flowers may be congregated or remote; (2) a seemingly simple inflorescence whose "flowers" may actually be composite heads (Liatris). |
| sporadic | irregular events such as insect population outbreaks that are largely unpredictable. |
| spores | comprised of a single gametophytic cell, it functions as the reproductive unit of fungi and some primitive plants. |
| stamens | the unit of the androecium and typically comprised of anther and filament, sometimes reduced to only an anther; the pollen-bearing organ of a seed plant. |
| sterile | barren, not able to produce seed. |
| stippling | the appearance of tiny white or yellow green spots on leaves resulting from mite, leafhopper, etc. feeding. |
| stipules | a basal appendage of a petiole, usually one at each side, often ear-like and sometimes caducous (falls of easily). |
| stolons | a horizontal stem that roots at its tip and there gives rise to a new plant. |
| succulent | bearing a thickened, juicy, soft, fleshy appearance (e.g., new leaves, or thick-leaved plants like cactus). |
| symptoms | the external and internal reactions or alterations of a plant as a result of a disease, insect, or mite. |
| systemic | spreading internally throughout the plant. |
| taproot | primary root that grows downward. |
| terminals | situated at the tip or extremity; opposed to basal. |
| toxic | poisonous |
| viability | capability of living. |
| viable | alive; capable of living. |
| viral | referring to submicroscopic obligate parasites consisting of infectious nucleic acid usually surrounded by a protein coat. |
| virus | a submicroscopic obligate parasite consisting of infectious nucleic acid usually surrounded by a protein coat. |
| viruses | submicroscopic obligate parasites consisting of infectious nucleic acid usually surrounded by a protein coat. |
| whorl | arrangement of three or more structures arising from a single node. |
| wilt | loss of rigidity and drooping of plant parts generally caused by insufficient water in the plant. |
| wings | (1) the lateral petal of a papilionaceous flower; (2) a dry, thin, membranous appendage. |
| witches' brooms | broom-like growth or massed proliferation caused by the dense clustering of branches of woody plants. |
| xylem | water-conducting element of a plant. |
