abscission layer—a layer of cells where fruit is attached to the plant. These cells respond to chemical and hormonal changes and allow the fruit to be released when mature (ripe)

apomictic—viable seeds can be produced without fertilization of the egg and are therefore clones of the mother plant (e.g. aronia appears to have this characteristic)

astringency— refers to the dry mouth after-effect caused by tannins. The best way to explain this is in the context of a very dry red wine.

cross-pollination requirement—pollen must be exchanged between plants of the same type, but with slightly different genetic makeup to set fruit (e.g. honeyberry)

dioecious—plants are either male or female, with the male plant providing pollen for fruit set on the female plant but not bearing fruit

dynamic accumulators—deep-rooted plants that “mine” and accumulate minerals, making them available to other plants that would otherwise not have access

insectory plants—plants that attract and provide food and/or shelter to beneficial insects that serve as biological control agents and/or plant pollinators (e.g. aronia)

pioneering plants—adapted for full sunlight and cannot survive in full shade (e.g. sea berry)

intermediate succession plants—thrive in partial shade, but struggle to survive in full shade

late succession plants—survive well in full shade, though fruiting will be reduced (e.g. gooseberries)

macro-climate—the effect of latitude and major topographical features such as mountains and large bodies of water

meso-climate—the effect of regional features such as slope orientation, windbreaks, nearby bodies of water, etc. (often confused with micro-climate)

micro-climate—the effect of shading, evapotranspiration, etc. of a single plant

nitrogen fixers—plants that enrich soil by forming symbiotic relationships with bacteria that make nitrogen in the air available to plants (e.g. goumi)

replant disorder–cause is poorly understood, but when a plant is replaced with the same type, the new plantings may struggle to establish, make poor growth and even die.

self fertile—a plant will set fruit in isolation (though cross-pollination will usually result in increased fruit set and quality), sometimes referred to as “self-fruitful”

strig—the fruiting raceme of the common currant

super fruit—fruit that has exceptionally high nutritional value. All fruits are good sources of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and other nutraceutical compounds, but some stand out in one or more of these attributes

Terms related to Plant Dormancy
1. Chilling Units are generally defined as the number of hours that a plant is exposed to air temperature between 35 and 50 degrees F following the onset of dormancy.
2. Chilling Requirement is the number of chilling units that a plant must acquire before it is able to resume growth when environmental conditions are favorable. This is a finite number unique to each plant species and cultivar.
3. Cold hardiness refers to the coldest temperature a plant will endure during dormancy without tissue damage.
4. Dormancy is a time when perennial plants have no growth activity.
5. Endo-dormancy is the initial state of dormancy induced by short days and freezing temperatures.. In this phase plants achieve winter (cold) hardiness over time and will not resume growth even under favorable environmental conditions.
6. Eco-dormancy is the second state of dormancy which starts when the chilling requirement has been achieved. In this phase plants remain dormant as long as the environment is unfavorable for growth, but they are poised to quickly resume growth in response to warm temperatures.