Pilchuck Pollinator

Lax Truss – A truss in which the flowers hang down.

Lepidote – In most cases, a small leafed rhododendron with scales on the underside of the leaf. (Opposite of elepidote).

Lobe – Usually applies to the outer parts of the corolla or calyx.

Pedicel – The stem that supports the flower.

Petiole – The stem that supports the leaf.

Phytophthora – A genus of fungi that causes root and stem rot.

Powdery Mildew – A fungus which attacks the leaves of rhododendrons, azaleas and other garden plants. It sometimes causes early leaf drop and, when severe, is fatal.

Propagation (asexual): Cuttings – removing branch tips and inserting them in a growing medium.

Layering – forming roots on a branch while it is still attached to the plant.

Grafting – attaching a branch from one plant onto another.

Propagation (sexual): Growing from seed.

Recurved – Curved backwards or downward.

Reproductive flower parts:

Pistol – female - consists of the stigma, style and ovary

Stamen – male - consists of the filament and the anther which holds the pollen

Soil PH – The degree of alkalinity or acidity of soil. On a scale, which is graded from 4-9, 7.0 is neutral. All readings below 7.0 are acid, and those above are alkaline. For rhododendrons, the best PH range is acid, and the best performance for most will occur will occur when the PH range falls between 4.5 and 5.5.

Sport – A branch of a plant that has mutated.

Spray – A multiple branched section of flower heads, originating from a single stem.

Terminal – The budded end of a shoot or branch.

Tetraploid – Having four sets of chromosomes.

Tissue culture – The science of creating plants (clones) by taking a large number of microscopic particles of a plant, adding growth hormones and growing them in a culture medium until they reach a manageable size so they can be transplanted and grown under normal nursery conditions. This method of propagation can create thousands of clones each year from a single plant.

Tomentum - Wooly hairs that temporarily cover the upper part of a young leaf, creating a silvery or rusty look.

Truss - A cluster of flowers that grow from a single bud on the end of a stem.

Whorl - A flush of growth on the end of a terminal that
forms a circle of leaves.

Yak - A nickname for R. yakushimanum, which is a dense growing, compact, floriferous plant having rounded flowers and is pink in bud, fading to white or pale pink in the fully opened flowers. The leaves are relatively small for an elepidote rhododendron. They are deep green, glossy textured, and covered underneath with a thick layer of indumentum New growth is silver-white, and is quite spectacular. From a distance it gives the effect of a second flowering before
maturing to normal foliage. The plant was first revealed to the west in 1934, when nurseryman Kochiro Wada sent two plants from Japan to England, where they became a horticultural sensation. Hybridizers quickly incorporated this new species into their breeding programs. To their surprise, they found not only did this new species improve the offspring, but it influenced them so strongly that they could be instantly recognized by the trained eye. No matter what rhododendron it was crossed with, the seedlings retained good foliage, compactness and the silvery new growth.

Learning the Lingo (cont)