by Mary Free and Christa Watters, Extension Master Gardeners
This post introduces the new word(s) added to our Illustrated Glossary. You may recognize some words as common gardening or botanical terms—although commonly used words are not necessarily commonly understood or their usage commonly agreed to. Other words may be more obscure, found mostly in flora guides and research papers. In any case we hope you find them interesting and even helpful in your gardening endeavors.
Left to right: Pinus strobus, ‘Moneymaker’ heirloom tomato, Carya ovata.
What do the three pictures above have in common? They show the axis of a plant—its stem—and the axes of an inflorescence and a compound leaf—their rachises. To learn why February’s last words are important terms for gardeners to understand, click on one of the links to go to the individual Illustrated Glossary page.