Plant Gardens 101

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Annuals Dictionary: Lychnis

March 04, 2010 By: Annuals Dictionary Category: Annuals Dictionary

Pink family
Caryophyllaceae
Lick’nis. Catchfly ; Campion . A genus of about 35 herbs, mostly from the north temperate zone and northward, some old garden favorites.

Description
Erect plants, often with sticky hairs. Leaves opposite, stipules absent. Calyx with 5 teeth. Petals 5, with claw at base, limb rounded or sometimes 2-cleft or fringed. Stamens 10.

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Annuals Dictionary: Humulus

February 28, 2010 By: Annuals Dictionary Category: Annuals Dictionary

Hemp family
Cannabinaceae
Hew’mew-lus. Three species of rough-stemmed vines, called hops, natives of the north temperate zone.

Description
Leaves opposite, more or less lobed. Male and female flowers green, on separate plants. Male flowers in catkinlike racemes, with a 5-parted calyx, no petals, 5 stamens. Female flowers in pairs beneath large bracts, which at maturity form a conelike body that contains lupulin, used in beer-making.

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Annuals Dictionary: Cheiranthus

February 18, 2010 By: Annuals Dictionary Category: Annuals Dictionary

Mustard family
Cruciferae
Ky-ran’thus. Perhaps a dozen perennial herbs, scattered from Madeira to the Himalayas, one the widely cultivated Wallflower.

Description
Leaves narrow with few marginal teeth. Flowers with 4-clawed petals, yellow or orange-brown, fragrant.

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Annuals Dictionary: Pennisetum

February 10, 2010 By: Annuals Dictionary Category: Annuals Dictionary

Grass family
Gramineae
Pen-i-see’tum. A genus of 80 species of chiefly tropical grasses, some ornamental.

Description
Leaf blades flat and narrow, sometimes colored. Flowers in a spikelike panicle, the spikelets having beneath them bristles, sometimes plumed, often longer than the spikelets.

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Annuals Dictionary: Centaurea

February 08, 2010 By: Annuals Dictionary Category: Annuals Dictionary

Daisy family
Compositae
Sen-tor’ree-a. A genus of chiefly Eurasian herbs comprising over 400 species.

Description
Leaves basal or alternate on stems, entire to divided, not spiny. Flowerheads contain tubular flowers; along the edge, they are often expanded and raylike. Below the head is a series of overlapping bracts.

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Annuals Dictionary: Cynara

February 08, 2010 By: Annuals Dictionary Category: Annuals Dictionary

Sunflower family
Compositae
Sin ‘a-ra. About a dozen coarse, thistle-like herbs, mostly from the Mediterranean region.

Description
Leaves large, more or less lobed, cut, or both, sometimes spiny. Flowers tubular, disk-shaped, no rays, in large, dense heads, one terminating most of the larger branches. Cluster of bracts in many series below and surrounding each head, spiny-tipped and purple in the Cardoon.

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Annuals Dictionary: Anethum

February 06, 2010 By: Annuals Dictionary Category: Annuals Dictionary

Carrot family
Umbelliferae
A-ne’thum. Common Dill . The fruits and leaves are used for seasoning. Native to the Old World.

Description
Leaves are pinnately divided. Flowers small and borne in umbels.

How to Grow
Easily grown from seed. Sow in a sunny, open place with average soil. Prefers cool weather.

Anethum graveolens
Common Dill . To 2 ft. (75 cm) high. Flowers less than ? in. (6 mm) wide, yellowish, the petals soon falling, arranged in a large umbel. Fruit aromatic, flattened. Sw. Asia. Half-hardy annual.

Annuals Dictionary: Lychnis

February 02, 2010 By: Annuals Dictionary Category: Annuals Dictionary

Pink family
Caryophyllaceae
Lick’nis. Catchfly ; Campion . A genus of about 35 herbs, mostly from the north temperate zone and northward, some old garden favorites.

Description
Erect plants, often with sticky hairs. Leaves opposite, stipules absent. Calyx with 5 teeth. Petals 5, with claw at base, limb rounded or sometimes 2-cleft or fringed. Stamens 10.

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Annuals Dictionary: Nicandra

January 17, 2010 By: Annuals Dictionary Category: Annuals Dictionary

Potato family
Solanaceae
Ny-kan’dra. A single strong-growing species from Peru that has escaped from cultivation and become naturalized in tropical America and U.S. Often grown in the garden for its dried seed cases.

Description
Leaves alternate, ovalish, with toothed margins. Flowers large, calyx 5-parted, stamens 5. Fruit a 3- to 5-celled, many seeded berry enclosed in an inflated calyx.

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Annuals Dictionary: Hunnemannia

January 09, 2010 By: Annuals Dictionary Category: Annuals Dictionary

Poppy family
Papaveraceae
Hun-nee-man-i’a. A single species related to Eschscholzia , but with 2 separate sepals.

Description
Leaves bluish green and dissected into blunt, narrow segments. Flowers showy, with 4 petals and 2 sepals.

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Annuals Dictionary: Gerbera

January 07, 2010 By: Annuals Dictionary Category: Annuals Dictionary

Daisy family
Compositae
Ger’ber-ra. A genus of perhaps 70 species of South African or Asiatic, mostly stemless, herbs.

Description
From a basal rosette of leaves arise stout stalks bearing a single daisylike flower.

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Annuals Dictionary: Rudbeckia

December 30, 2009 By: Annuals Dictionary Category: Annuals Dictionary

Daisy family
Compositae
Rood-beck’i-a. Coneflower . North American hardy herbs, comprising about 25 species.

Description
Leaves usually alternate, simple or compound, in some species much cut and lance-shaped, veins prominent, margins deeply toothed toward the tip. Flowers in terminal or axillary heads, generally yellow, in most species the disk flowers being brown or black.

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Annuals Dictionary: Baileya

December 30, 2009 By: Annuals Dictionary Category: Annuals Dictionary

Daisy family
Compositae
Bay-lay’a. A small genus of 3 or 4 species of herbs, native to dry desert areas, with only one of gardening interest.

Description
Leaves alternate, at base and on lower stem. Flowerheads solitary, their disk and ray flowers yellow. Ray flowers become papery and can be used for dried arrangements.

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Annuals Dictionary: Argemone

December 28, 2009 By: Annuals Dictionary Category: Annuals Dictionary

Poppy family
Papaveraceae
Are-jem’o-nee. The prickly poppies are tropical American herbs of perhaps 30 species, one very widely grown.

Description
Stout with yellow juice, the cut leaves more or less toothed and spiny-margined. Flowers large, with 2 or 3 sepals and 4-6 rather showy petals.

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Annuals Dictionary: Nierembergia

December 14, 2009 By: Annuals Dictionary Category: Annuals Dictionary

Potato family
Solanaceae
Near-em-berg’i-a or near-em-ber’ji-a. Cupflower . Tropical American herbs or subshrubs comprising about 30 species, 4 grown for their attractive tubular flowers.

Description
Leaves alternate, somewhat scattered, without marginal teeth. Flowers white or pale blue, mostly near the ends of twigs. Calyx more or less bell-shaped, 5-parted. Corolla long-tubed, the 5-lobed limb abruptly expanded, throat yellow. Stamens 5, protruding, one shorter than the others.

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