Important Elements and terms of Botany

Find a huge list of Important elements and terms related to Botany (science) with it’s definition and explanation. Acid: It is a substance which releases hydrogen ions in water and has a pH less than 7, e.g. hydrochloric acid in the human stomach. Adolescence: It is the period in the human life cycle between puberty and maturity. Additive: In food technology, any natural or artificial chemical added to prolong the shelf life of processed foods (salt or nitrates), alter the colour or flavour of food, or minerals). Aerobe: It is an organisation which requires oxygen to survive. Agar: It is a jelly obtained from seaweeds which is used as a medium for culturing bacteria. Algae: A large group of primitive plants, mostly aquatic and capable of photosynthesis. Allogamy: It is cross-fertilization. Anatomy: It is the study of the structure of the body and its components parts, especially the human body, as distinguished form physiology, which is the study of bodily functions. Antibiotic: It is a substance, synthesizes by micro organism, which damages or kills other micro organism. Anther: In a flower, the upper part of a stamen containing pollen grains. Aquatic: It means living in water. All life originated in the early oceans. Asexual reproduction: It is reproduction in which new organisms are formed a single parent without gamete production. Autogamy: It means self fertilization. Autoclave: It is a pressure cooker used for the sterilization of materials. Auxins: These are plant hormones which control many aspects of plant growth. Baermann funnel: It is an apparatus used to isolate organisms living in soil water, e.g. algae protozoa. Balanced diet: It is the diet that includes carbohydrated, protein, fat, vitamins, water, minerals and roughage. Benthos: These are the flora and fauna of the bottom of oceans and lakes. Beriberi: It is inflammation of the nerve endings, mostly occurring in the tropics and resulting from a deficiency of vitamin B (thiamine). Biology: It is the study of living things. There are many specializations including cytology (the study of cells), zoology (the study of animals), and ecology (the study of the environment). Biotechnology: It is the industrial use of living organisms to manufacture food, drugs or other products. Biofuel: It is a kind of fuel which is made from natural materials or waste. Biomass: It is the total weight of all the organisms in a particular habitat. Biosphere: It is the entire zone of air, land and water at the surface of the earth that is occupied by living things. Bulb: It is an organ of storages and vegetative reproduction. Caffeine: It is a mildly addictive alkaloid found in a number of plants, such as tea, coffee and cola. Capillary action: It is the spontaneous movement of liquids up or down narrow tubes such as plant xylem vessels or the spaces existing between soil particles. Canines: These are sharp pointed tearing teeth near the front of the mouth used for killing prey and ripping of pieces of food. Cannabis: It is the source of a fibre and drugs like hashish and marijuana. Also called the Indian hemp or bhang plant. Cartilage: It is a flexible bluish-white connective tissue made up of the protein collagen. Casein: It is the main protein of milk, from which it can be separated by the action of acid, the enzyme rennin, or bacteria (souring); It is also the main component of cheese. Carpel: It is the female reproductive organ of a flower (megas-poprophyII) bearing the ovules which mature into seeds after fertilization. Cell: It is the smallest functional and structural unit of all living organisms. Cereal: It is the grass grown for its edible starch seeds. The term cereal refers primarily to barley and wheat, but may also refer to oats, maize, rye, millet and rice. Chlorophyll: It is the green coloured pigment university found in plants, responsible for capturing the energy for photosynthesis. Clavicle: It is the collar bone, in humans, it is vulnerable to fracture. Cornea: It is the transparent front section of the eye. The cornea is curved and behaves as a fixed lens, so that light entering the eye is partly focused before it reaches the lends. Corolla: It is a collective name for the petals of a flower. Death rate: It is the number of deaths, measured in the human population as the number of deaths in one year per 1000 of population. Deciduous: These are trees and shrubs that shed their leaves before the onset of winter or a dry season. Defoliant: It is a chemical sprayed on plants that causes leaves to fall of prematurely. Desertification: It is the natural or man made conversation of arable or forest land into barren deserts. Down’s syndrome: It is a human abnormality caused by a mutation in which the ovum has an extra chromosome. Ecology: It is the study of structure and function of nature. Ectotherm: It is a cold-blooded animal, such as a lizard, that relies on external warmth to raise its body temperature so that it can become active. Egestion: It is the removal of undigested food or faeces from the gut. Enzyme: It is a biological catalyst produced in cells and capable of speeding up the chemical reactions necessary for life by converting one molecule (substrate) into another. Epidermis: It is the outermost layers of cells on an organism’s body. Faeces: These are remains of food and other debris passed out of the digestive tract of animals. Fallopian: It is a tube or oviduct in mammals one of the two tubes that carry ova (eggs) from the ovary to the uterus. Fibrin: It is an insoluble blood protein used by the body to stop bleeding. Fossil: These are remains or traces of animal and plant life of the past found embedded in rock. Fossil fuel: It is the fuel such as coal, oil and natural gas. These are remains of organism embedded in the surface of the earth. Fungi: These are primitive members of the plant family. Fungus: It is a kind of living thing, a simple plant which cannot make its own food. Grafting: It is the process of uniting parts of two plants to form a single plant. Habitat: It is the locality or external environment in which a plant or animal lives. Haploid: It is an organism or structure having a single set of unpaired chromosomes. Herbarium: It is an organized collection of plant specimens for identification and reference purposes. Hermaphrodite: It is an organism having both male and female reproductive organs in the same individual. Horticulture: It is a branch of agriculture dealing with garden crops, generally fruits, vegetables and ornamentals. Iris: It is the structure in the vertebrate eye which controls the size of the pupil and hence the amount of light entering the eye. Metabolism: It describes all the change that happens inside living things. Ossicles: These are the three tiny linked bones in the mammalian middle ear. Ovule: It is a somewhat oval body attached to the ovary wall in a flower which matures into a seed after fertilization. Parasitism: It is a biological association between organisms in which one, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Palate: It is in mammals, the ceiling of the mouth. Predator: It is an animal that feeds on other animals which are called the prey. Radiocarbon dating: It is the method of finding out the age of fossils by determining the amount of radiocarbon remaining in them. Retina: It is light-sensitive tissue lining the interior of the vertebrate eye, and consisting of two types of cells. Rhizome: It is an organ of vegetative reproduction in flowering plants consisting of a horizontal underground stem growing from a parent plant. Root: It is part of a flowering plant that normally grows down into the soil. Savannah: It is a grassland with scattered trees. Saprophyte: It is an organism that feeds on dead and decaying plants and animals, causing decomposition. Short sight: It is Myopia. Transplantation: It is the relocation of seedlings from nursery beds to the actual site of plantation. Tropism: It is a plant growth movement in response to a stimulus, for example, light. Tuber: It is an organ of vegetative reproduction in flowering plants.