Glossary
171 flower words explained in plain language: the parts of a flower, kinds of plant, floristry, decoration and the trade.
Presented by ClearTrust Free for gardeners, florists, travellers and the curious.
A
- Absolute
- A highly concentrated perfume material extracted from flowers with solvents, not steam.
- Alpine
- A plant from high mountains above the tree line, usually low, tough and bright-flowered.
- Annual
- A plant that grows from seed, flowers, sets seed and dies within a single growing season.
- Anther
- The tip of a stamen, where pollen is made and released.
- Aquatic plant
- A plant that lives in water, rooted in mud with floating or raised leaves, or floating free.
- Arboretum
- A botanical collection made up mainly of trees and shrubs.
- Arch
- A frame that curves or squares overhead, covered in flowers and foliage to mark an entrance or ceremony.
- Attar
- A traditional perfume made by distilling flowers or other materials into a base oil, usually sandalwood.
B
- Bedding plant
- A plant raised in quantity and set out in beds for one season of display, then removed.
- Biennial
- A plant that grows leaves in its first year, then flowers, seeds and dies in its second.
- Binomial name
- The two-word scientific name of a species: the genus followed by the species word.
- Birth flower
- A flower linked by custom to each month of the year, like a birthstone.
- Bloemencorso
- A Dutch flower parade of large floats covered entirely in fresh flowers.
- Border
- A long planted strip beside a path, lawn, wall or hedge.
- Botanical garden
- A garden that keeps a labelled, documented collection of plants for study, conservation and public visits.
- Botanical Latin
- The form of Latin used for scientific plant names, with many descriptive words worth learning.
- Bouquet
- A bunch of cut flowers arranged to be held in the hand or given as a gift.
- Boutonniere
- A single flower or small cluster worn on the lapel of a jacket.
- Bract
- A leaf that sits just below a flower or flower cluster, sometimes coloured and mistaken for a petal.
- Bud
- A flower that has not yet opened, still wrapped in its sepals.
- Bulb
- An underground storage organ made of fleshy layers, holding next season's shoot and flower.
- Bunch
- A fixed number of stems of one kind, tied together as the standard unit of wholesale sale.
C
- Calyx
- All the sepals of one flower, taken together: the outer cup that protects the bud.
- Canang sari
- A small daily offering of flowers in a woven palm-leaf tray, made by Balinese Hindus.
- Cascade bouquet
- A bridal bouquet that is full at the top and trails downwards in a point.
- Cempasúchil
- The Mexican name for the orange marigold Tagetes erecta, the flower of the Day of the Dead.
- Centrepiece
- A flower arrangement placed in the middle of a table.
- Charbagh
- A Persian-style garden divided into four parts by paths or water channels that cross at the centre.
- Climber
- A plant with long, weak stems that climbs on other plants or supports to reach the light.
- Cold chain
- The unbroken run of cool storage and transport that keeps cut flowers fresh from farm to shop.
- Common name
- The everyday name of a plant in a given language, as opposed to its scientific name.
- Compost
- Rotted plant and kitchen waste used to feed soil; also a name for bagged potting mix.
- Conditioning
- Preparing cut flowers so they take up water and last: trimming, stripping and a long drink.
- Conservatory
- A glass building for displaying tender plants; at home, a glazed room attached to the house.
- Corm
- A solid, swollen underground stem base that stores food, replaced by a new one each year.
- Corolla
- All the petals of one flower, taken together.
- Corsage
- A small arrangement of flowers worn on a dress, a wrist or a handbag at a formal event.
- Cross-pollination
- Pollination of a flower by pollen from a different plant of the same species.
- Cultivar
- A plant selected or bred by people for particular traits and kept true by careful propagation.
- Cut flower
- A flower harvested with its stem for use in a vase or arrangement, as opposed to a growing plant.
- Cutting
- A piece of stem, leaf or root removed from a plant and grown on to make a new one.
D
- Deadheading
- Removing faded flowers from a plant to keep it tidy and encourage more blooms.
- Deciduous
- Describes a plant that drops all its leaves for part of the year, in winter or a dry season.
- Disc floret
- One of the tiny tubular flowers packed into the centre of a daisy-type head.
- Distillation
- Separating scented oil from plant material by heating it with water or steam and cooling the vapour.
- Double flower
- A flower with many more petals than the wild form, often with stamens turned into petals.
- Dried flower
- A flower preserved by removing its moisture, so that it can be kept for months or years.
- Dutch auction clock
- An auction method where the price starts high and falls until the first buyer stops it.
E
- Endemic
- Describes a plant found naturally in one particular place and nowhere else on Earth.
- Enfleurage
- An old method of capturing flower scent by letting fat absorb it from fresh petals.
- Epiphyte
- A plant that grows on another plant for support, without taking food from it.
- Essential oil
- A concentrated scented oil drawn from a plant, usually by steam distillation.
- Evergreen
- Describes a plant that keeps green leaves all year round.
- Everlasting
- A flower with dry, papery petals or bracts that keeps its colour and form when dried.
F
- Family
- A large group of related genera that share basic features of flower and fruit.
- Fertilisation
- The joining of a male cell from pollen with an egg cell in the ovule, which starts a seed.
- Festoon
- A garland hung in a curve between two points, so that it dips in the middle.
- Filament
- The thin stalk of a stamen that holds the anther up where pollinators can reach it.
- Filler flower
- A small, often many-headed flower used to fill gaps and soften an arrangement.
- Floral foam
- A green plastic foam that soaks up water and holds cut stems in place in an arrangement.
- Floriography
- The practice of giving flowers set meanings, so that a bouquet can carry a message.
- Florist
- A person or shop that sells cut flowers and makes them into bouquets and arrangements.
- Floristry
- The craft and trade of arranging cut flowers and foliage, and of selling them.
- Flower auction
- A market where growers' flowers are sold to trade buyers by bidding, lot by lot.
- Flower carpet
- A large ground design made of flowers or petals, laid in a street or square for a festival.
- Flower crown
- A ring of flowers and leaves worn on the head.
- Flower frog
- A weighted holder that sits in the bottom of a vase or bowl to keep flower stems upright.
- Flower head
- A tight disc of many tiny flowers that looks and works like one big flower, as in a daisy.
- Flower show
- An exhibition where growers, designers and gardeners display plants, gardens and arrangements.
- Flower wall
- A vertical panel covered edge to edge with flowers, used as a backdrop at events.
- Focal flower
- A large or striking flower that draws the eye first in an arrangement.
- Foliage
- The leaves of a plant; in floristry, the leafy stems used to frame and fill out flowers.
- Forcing
- Making a plant flower earlier than it naturally would, by controlling cold, warmth and light.
- Fruit
- The ripened ovary of a flower, which holds and spreads the seeds.
G
- Gajra
- A short string of flowers, most often jasmine buds, worn in the hair or round the wrist in South Asia.
- Garland
- A length of flowers, leaves or both, strung or bound together to hang, drape or wear.
- Genus
- A group of closely related species, given as the first word of a scientific name.
- Grade
- A quality class given to cut flowers, based mainly on stem length, head size and freedom from faults.
- Grafting
- Joining a shoot or bud of one plant onto the roots of another so they grow as one.
- Greenhouse
- A building of glass or clear plastic where plants are grown in controlled warmth and light.
H
- Hanakotoba
- The Japanese language of flowers, in which each flower carries a meaning or feeling.
- Hanami
- The Japanese custom of gathering outdoors to enjoy flowers in bloom, above all cherry blossom.
- Hand-tied
- A bouquet built in the hand with stems laid in a spiral, then tied at one point.
- Hardiness zone
- A map region defined by how cold winters usually get, used to judge which plants will survive.
- Heirloom
- An old cultivar, usually open-pollinated, handed down by gardeners over generations.
- Herbaceous border
- A border planted with non-woody perennials that die down in winter and return each year.
- Herbarium
- A collection of pressed, dried plant specimens kept on sheets with notes, for scientific reference.
- Hybrid
- A plant with two different parents, usually different species or distinct cultivars.
I
- Ikebana
- The Japanese art of arranging flowers, branches and leaves, built on line, balance and empty space.
- Infiorata
- An Italian festival in which streets are covered with pictures made of flower petals.
- Inflorescence
- A group of flowers arranged on one stem in a set pattern.
- Installation
- A large flower work built into a space, such as a hanging cloud, a staircase or a shop front.
- Invasive
- Describes a plant brought to a new region that spreads fast and harms the local plants and wildlife.
K
L
- Lei
- A Hawaiian garland of flowers, leaves, shells or seeds, given as a sign of welcome and affection.
- Loose flower
- Flowers picked without stems and sold by weight, for garlands, worship and decoration.
M
- Mala
- The South Asian word for a garland of flowers, used for worship, welcome and weddings.
- Mandap
- The canopy on four pillars under which a Hindu or Jain wedding ceremony takes place.
- Mandi
- A wholesale market in South Asia; a phool mandi is one that trades in flowers.
- Meadow
- Open grassland rich in wildflowers, traditionally cut for hay once the flowers have seeded.
- Moribana
- An ikebana style arranged in a wide, shallow container, with stems fixed on a kenzan.
- Mulch
- A layer of material spread over soil to hold moisture, keep down weeds and protect roots.
N
- Nageire
- An ikebana style arranged in a tall vase, with stems resting naturally against the rim.
- National flower
- A flower chosen to represent a country, state or region.
- Native
- Describes a plant that occurs naturally in a region, without having been brought by people.
- Nectar
- The sugary liquid a flower makes to reward the animals that carry its pollen.
- Nectar guide
- A pattern of lines, spots or colour on a flower that points pollinators towards the nectar.
- Night-blooming
- Describes flowers that open after dusk, usually pale and strongly scented, for moths or bats.
O
P
- Panicle
- A branched flower cluster: a main stem with side branches that each carry several flowers.
- Parterre
- A formal garden of low clipped hedges laid out in a flat pattern, meant to be seen from above.
- Perennial
- A plant that lives for several years, usually flowering every year once it is mature.
- Petal
- One of the coloured, leaf-like parts of a flower that surround its centre and draw in pollinators.
- Pew end
- A small arrangement fixed to the end of a church bench or aisle chair for a wedding.
- Photoperiod
- The length of day and night, which many plants use as a signal for when to flower.
- Pistil
- The seed-making part at the centre of a flower: a stigma, a style and an ovary.
- Pollen
- The fine powder made by a flower's anthers, carrying the male cells needed to make seed.
- Pollination
- The movement of pollen from an anther to a stigma, the first step in making seed.
- Pollinator
- An animal that carries pollen from flower to flower, such as a bee, moth, bird or bat.
- Polytunnel
- A tunnel of plastic sheet stretched over hoops, used as a cheap, simple greenhouse.
- Pomander
- A ball of flowers hung from a ribbon, carried or used as hanging decoration.
- Pookalam
- A circular floor design made entirely of fresh flowers during the Onam festival in Kerala.
- Posy
- A small, round bunch of flowers, easy to hold in one hand.
- Potpourri
- A mix of dried petals, leaves and spices kept in a bowl or sachet to scent a room.
- Prasad flowers
- Flowers that have been offered to a deity and are given back to worshippers as a blessing.
- Pressed flower
- A flower flattened and dried between absorbent sheets so that it keeps its shape and much of its colour.
- Propagation
- Making new plants from existing ones, by seed or by pieces of the parent plant.
- Pruning
- Cutting back parts of a plant to shape it, keep it healthy or improve its flowering.
- Puja
- A Hindu act of worship, at home or in a temple, in which flowers are a main offering.
R
- Raceme
- A flower cluster with stalked flowers set along one unbranched stem, opening from the bottom up.
- Rangoli
- A pattern made on the floor or doorstep in India with coloured powder, rice flour or flower petals.
- Ray floret
- One of the strap-shaped outer flowers of a daisy-type head, which look like petals.
- Rhizome
- A stem that grows sideways at or under the soil surface, sending up shoots along its length.
- Rikka
- The oldest formal style of ikebana: a tall, upright arrangement that pictures a whole landscape.
- Rockery
- A garden area built with rocks and gritty soil for alpines and other small plants that need drainage.
- Rose water
- Water scented with roses, made by distilling petals; used in food, perfume and ritual.
S
- Saffron
- A spice made from the dried red stigmas of the saffron crocus, picked by hand.
- Scent
- The smell a flower gives off, made of light oils that evaporate into the air to attract pollinators.
- Seed
- A young plant in a resting state, packed with a food store inside a protective coat.
- Self-pollination
- Pollination of a flower by its own pollen, or by pollen from another flower on the same plant.
- Sepal
- One of the small, usually green leaf-like parts that wrap and protect a flower bud before it opens.
- Shrub
- A woody plant, smaller than a tree, with several stems rising from the base.
- Spadix
- A fleshy spike covered in very small flowers, usually partnered with a spathe.
- Spathe
- A single large bract that wraps or sits behind a spike of tiny flowers, as in an anthurium.
- Species
- The basic unit of plant naming: a group of similar plants that breed with each other in the wild.
- Spike
- A flower cluster with stalkless flowers attached directly along one upright stem.
- Stamen
- The pollen-producing part of a flower, made of a thin stalk with a pollen sac at its tip.
- Stem
- The stalk of a flower; in the trade, also the unit by which cut flowers are counted and priced.
- Stigma
- The tip of the pistil, often sticky or feathery, where pollen lands and begins to grow.
- Style
- The stalk of the pistil, joining the stigma at the top to the ovary below.
- Succulent
- A plant with thick, fleshy leaves or stems that store water for dry periods.
- Superbloom
- A rare mass flowering of desert wildflowers after unusually good rains.
- Swag
- A bound bunch or drape of flowers and foliage made to hang on a wall, door or mantel.
T
- Tepal
- A petal-like part of a flower in which petals and sepals look the same.
- Tokonoma
- A raised alcove in a traditional Japanese room where a scroll and a flower arrangement are displayed.
- Topiary
- The craft of clipping evergreen shrubs and trees into balls, cones, spirals, animals and other shapes.
- Toran
- A decorative hanging strung across the top of a doorway in South Asia, often of marigolds and mango leaves.
- Tuber
- A swollen underground stem or root that stores food and carries buds for new growth.
- Tussie-mussie
- A small posy of flowers and herbs, often chosen for their meanings; also its cone-shaped holder.
U
- Umbel
- A flower cluster whose stalks all spring from one point, like the ribs of an umbrella.
V
- Variety
- A naturally occurring form within a species that differs in a steady way from the typical plant.
- Varmala
- The exchange of flower garlands between bride and groom at a Hindu wedding; also the garland itself.
- Vase life
- The number of days a cut flower stays fresh and good-looking in water.
- Veni
- A hair ornament of flowers woven into a flat strip or crescent, worn on a bun or plait in India.
- Vernalisation
- A period of cold that some plants need before they are able to flower.
W
- Wholesale market
- A market where florists and traders buy flowers in bulk from growers and wholesalers.
- Wildflower
- A flowering plant that grows without being planted or bred by people.
- Wreath
- A ring of flowers, leaves or branches, hung on a door, laid at a memorial or worn on the head.