Apical budThe topmost, and typically dominant, growing point on a plant stem.
AquiferAn underground deposit or series of connected deposits of rock saturated with water.
ChapparalA community of drought tolerant, evergreen shrubs found primarily in California that is adapted to mild wet winters, hot dry summers, and occasional wildfire.
CultivarA contraction of the words “cultivated variety” used to denote a plant that has been selected or bred for particular traits which can be maintained in propagation clonally.
EcologyDescribes conditions specific to a particular site relating to climate, soil and light.
Frost-tenderA plant that will not survive frost or freezing.
Genus A group of closely related plants within a larger plant family; the first word in a botanical name. (Plural: genera)
Habitat:The physical environment in which a plant or animal can naturally live.
HardyRefers to a plant’s ability to withstand cold.
HerbaceousPlants whose leaves and stems die back to the ground at the end of the growing season; herbaceous perennials regrow the following year.
Host plant/larval hostSpecific plants that feed the larval, or juvenile, form of insects.
HybridThe offspring of crossing two or more parent plants.
Marine terraceA coastal landform consisting of an elevated horizontal platform or gently sloping surface formed by wave action.
NativePlants that naturally occur in a geographic area.
NaturalizeWhen a plant adapts and acclimates to an environment establishing itself as if
Proteaceae A family of plants native to the Southern Hemisphere containing around 80 genera including Protea, Banksia and Grevillea
RegionalismAn approach to gardening that attempts to capture the natural environment and spirit of “place” specific to a geographic area.
RiparianRefers to conditions found along the banks of a natural waterway.
RunnelA shallow trough or narrow channel with flowing water.
ScreeAn accumulation of loose rock or gravel covering a slope.
Subtropical climateCharacterized by hot humid summers followed by cool mild winters.
TaxonomyThe science of naming living things.
Temperate climateHaving neither extreme of hot or cold temperatures.
TetraploidPlants that have been bred to have twice as many chromosomes than is typical.
Tropical climateWarm hot and moist conditions found throughout the year in the region surrounding the earth’s equator bordered to the north by the Tropic of Cancer and to the south by the Tropic of Capricorn.