Mark McNee

Category: Garden Terms Explained

  • Dioecious

    A plant with the male and female flowers on separate plants. For example, Holly.

  • Bond, English

    This is one of the commonest method of constructing a brick wall which is more than ½ a brick thick and consists of alternating courses of heads and stretchers.

  • Taxonomic rank

    This relates to the level within the hierarchy of plant names. The series of taxa for botany are set out in the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants. Not all plants have an entry for every taxa and above the level of genus there is often a great degree of disagreement as…

  • Taxonomy

    This is the process of classifying things into groups, and in biology placing them within a hieratical system of classification. It is the study of how living things fit into system of how we name them.

  • Taxon

    (plural taxa) is the individual levels of taxonomic rank. E.g. genus is one taxon and  species is a second taxon.

  • Family

    This is a group of closely related genera and the names should be written in italics (or underlined) and start with a capital letter. The names of plant families should end in the letters –aceae; but some long established names which do not have this ending are still used, all be it with standardised alternatives…

  • International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants

    The International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN) is as the title says the set of rules that govern how plants, fungi and algae are named and how the names are arranged into ever broader groups. The last published edition was the Vienna code but it is soon to be replaced by…

  • International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants

    The International Code of Nomenclature for Cultivated Plants (ICNCP) lays down a set of rules in an attempt to standardise the way plants produced or selected by humans, as opposed to wild plants, are named. It is in effect a supplement to the International Code of Nomenclature for algae, fungi, and plants (ICN).  The first…

  • Enzymes

    These are catalysts which drive and control all the processes in living things. These are proteins just like muscle and hair and work as a result of their complex structure. Catalysts are something which causes a chemical reaction to occur but remain unchanged by the reaction so that it can repeatedly act on the same…

  • Organic matter

    This is the part of the soil which is made up from partly decomposed plant material or material which can beaded to soil to increase the amount of soil organic matter. It is very important as a reserve of nutrients and in the structure of the soil. Typical sources include peat, compost, farmyard manure and…