A plant cutting is a piece of a plant that is used in horticulture for vegetative (asexual) propagation. A piece of the stem or root of the source plant is placed in a suitable medium such as moist soil. If the conditions are suitable, the plant piece will begin to grow as a new plant independent of the parent, a process known as striking. A stem cutting produces new roots, and a root cutting produces new stems. Some plants can be grown from leaf pieces, called leaf cuttings, which produce both stems and roots. The scions used in grafting are also called cuttings.
Euphorbia tithymaloides is a perennial succulent spurge. An erect shrub, the plant is also known by the scientific name Pedilanthus tithymaloides. However, the genus Pedilanthus has been submerged into the genus Euphorbia, and is more correctly known by its new name.
This page provides a glossary of plant morphology. Botanists and other biologists who study plant morphology use a number of different terms to classify and identify plant organs and parts that can be observed using no more than a handheld magnifying lens. This page provides help in understanding the numerous other pages describing plants by their various taxa. The accompanying page—Plant morphology—provides an overview of the science of the external form of plants. There is also an alphabetical list: Glossary of botanical terms. In contrast, this page deals with botanical terms in a systematic manner, with some illustrations, and organized by plant anatomy and function in plant physiology.
Curio archeri, syn. Senecio toxotis is a species of succulent plant in the family Asteraceaethat is indigenous to the south-western Cape, South Africa.
This glossary of botanical terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts relevant to botany and plants in general. Terms of plant morphology are included here as well as at the more specific Glossary of plant morphology and Glossary of leaf morphology. For other related terms, see Glossary of phytopathology, Glossary of lichen terms, and List of Latin and Greek words commonly used in systematic names.
A stem is one of two main structural axes of a vascular plant, the other being the root. It supports leaves, flowers and fruits, transports water and dissolved substances between the roots and the shoots in the xylem and phloem, stores nutrients, and produces new living tissue. The stem can also be called halm or haulm or culms.
A leaf is a principal appendage of the stem of a vascular plant, usually borne laterally aboveground and specialized for photosynthesis. Leaves are collectively called foliage, as in "autumn foliage", while the leaves, stem, flower, and fruit collectively form the shoot system. In most leaves, the primary photosynthetic tissue is the palisade mesophyll and is located on the upper side of the blade or lamina of the leaf but in some species, including the mature foliage of Eucalyptus, palisade mesophyll is present on both sides and the leaves are said to be isobilateral. Most leaves are flattened and have distinct upper (adaxial) and lower (abaxial) surfaces that differ in color, hairiness, the number of stomata, the amount and structure of epicuticular wax and other features. Leaves are mostly green in color due to the presence of a compound called chlorophyll which is essential for photosynthesis as it absorbs light energy from the sun. A leaf with lighter-colored or white patches or edges is called a variegated leaf.
Curio radicans, syn. Senecio radicans, is a succulent houseplant that is native to South Africa. A member of the family Asteraceae, the asters, this species is closely related to the common string of pearls and Curio hallianus. It has multiple tendrils of glossy, banana-shaped foliage. It is commonly known as string of bananas or fishhook senecio.
Cicuta bulbifera, commonly known as the bulb-bearing water-hemlock, is a plant native to North America and one of four species in the poisonous genus Cicuta. Tiny bulbils form in the leaf joints in the upper part of the plant, giving the plant its scientific and common names. Cicuta bulbifera can be distinguished from Cicuta douglasii by its narrow leaflet segments and its bulbil-bearing upper leaf axils.
Crassula ovata, commonly known as jade plant, lucky plant, money plant or money tree, is a succulent plant with small pink or white flowers that is native to the KwaZulu-Natal and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa, and Mozambique; it is common as a houseplant worldwide. Much of its popularity stems from the low levels of care needed; the jade plant requires little water and can survive in most indoor conditions. It is sometimes referred to as the money tree; however, Pachira aquatica also has this nickname.
Leaf window, also known as epidermal window, and fenestration, is a specialized leaf structure consisting of a translucent area through which light can enter the interior surfaces of the leaf where photosynthesis can occur. The translucent structure may include epidermal tissue, and in some succulent plants it consists of several cell layers of parenchyma, which may also function as water-storage tissue. It can appear as a large continuous patch, a variegated or reticulated region, or as numerous small spots. It is found in some succulent plants native to arid climates, allowing much of the plant to remain beneath the soil surface where it is protected from desiccation by winds and heat while optimizing light absorption. Many species featuring leaf windows are native to Southern Africa.
Curio × peregrinus, also known as dolphin necklace, flying dolphins, string of dolphins, dolphin plant or Senecio hippogriff, is a succulent nothospecies of Curio in the family Asteraceae. It is often called, incorrectly, Senecio peregrinus, but that name was previously given, by Grisebach in 1879, to a different species from South America. The name Curio × peregrinus was published in 1999, based on the earlier name Kleinia peregrina; however, this name was not validly published. The plant is a hybrid between Curio rowleyanus and Curio articulatus.
Carpobrotus modestus, commonly known as inland pigface, is a succulent perennial of the family Aizoaceae, native to the coasts of Australia. It produces purple flowers which mature into fruits and is mainly used as a groundcover succulent or as a drought tolerant plant.
Curio corymbifer, synonyms including Senecio corymbifer and Senecio sarcoides, is a species of succulent flowering plant in the aster family Asteraceae, indigenous to the Cape Provinces of South Africa, Namibia and Swaziland.
Senecio cotyledonis ("Stinkbos") is a species of succulent flowering plant in the aster family, indigenous to the Western Cape and Northern Cape, South Africa.
Curio herreanus, syn. Senecio herreanus, which is also known as string of watermelons, string of beads, gooseberry plant and string of raindrops, is a flowering succulent plant in the daisy family Asteraceae that is native to South Africa. It is grown as an ornamental plant and is very similar in appearance to 'string of pearls', where the names may be conflated.
Curio talinoides, syn. Senecio mandraliscae, also known as blue straws, blue chalksticks, dassieharpuis, or narrow-leaf chalk sticks, is a succulent plant of the family Asteraceae that is native to South Africa. The origin of this plant is dubious and it may be a hybrid.
Curio citriformis, syn. Senecio citriformisis, also known as string of tears, is a trailing succulent plant in the family Asteraceae native to South Africa that grows in rocky outcrops in clay soils.
Curio 'Trident Blue', known commonly as Senecio 'Trident Blue', Trident Blue Chalk and Kleinia 'Trident Blue', is a spear-shaped succulent plant that is a hybrid of Curio repens and Curio talinoides.
Gordon Douglas Rowley (1921–2019) was a British botanist and writer specialising in cacti and succulents.
