Use this list of terms to expanding your knowledge and understanding of seed saving and gardening. The following definitions are drawn from The Seed Garden: The Art and Practice of Seed Saving, edited by Lee Buttala and Shanyn Siegel and published by Seed Savers Exchange.
Annual: a plant that completes its full life cycle—including germination, reproduction, and death—in one growing season
Anther: the pollen-producing part of a stamen
Biennial: a plant that requires vernalization and usually completes its life cycle in two growing seasons, growing vegetatively during the first season, undergoing vernalization, and producing flowers and seeds and dying during the second season
Bolt: to elongate rapidly (as a stem) prior to flowering
Cross-pollination: the transfer of pollen from one plant onto the stigma or flower of another plant
Cultivar: a plant or group of plants that have been bred or selected to have distinguishable, desirable traits; commonly called a variety
F1: the first-generation offspring produced from a cross between two different populations or varieties; an abbreviation of “first filial generation”
Filament: the hairlike stalk of a stamen that has a pollen-bearing anther at its tip
Flower: the reproductive structure of an angiosperm
Genetically modified organism (GMO):an organism that has had its genetic composition altered by way of molecular breeding techniques
Germination:the process by which a seed absorbs water and swells, causing the radicle to break through the seed coat; the emergence of a young plant from a seed
Heirloom variety:an open-pollinated cultivar that has been grown and shared from generation to generation within a family or community
Hybrid:a plant or variety created by crossing two stable, genetically distinct parental populations; of or related to such a plant or variety; also called an F1 hybrid
Isolation:the separation of one plant or group of plants from another to prevent cross-pollination
Natural selection:the multigenerational process by which heritable traits in a population become more or less common as a result of how efficiently those traits help individuals survive and reproduce
Open-pollinated variety:a variety that, when allowed to cross-pollinate only with other members of the same population, produces offspring that display the characteristic traits of the variety
Perennial:a plant that can live for more than two years, usually producing flowers and seeds for many years
Pistil:the female reproductive organ at the center of a flower, usually composed of an ovary, style, and stigma
Pollen:typically dust-like structures, produced by anthers, that carry male reproductive cells in flowering plants
Pollinator:an animal, often an insect, that moves pollen from an anther to a stigma
Population:the total number of plants of a variety that contribute their genetic material to the seeds being collected; a group of interfertile plants growing together that have the potential to interbreed
Row cover:spun synthetic fabric used to protect crops from pests and frost
Seed:a mature plant ovule composed of an embryo, an endosperm, and a seed coat
Seedborne: being carried in or on a seed; often refers to pathogens or disease
Self-pollination: the transfer of pollen from an anther to a stigma of the same plant
Stamen: the male reproductive structure of a flower, comprised of a filament and an anther
Stigma: the pistil’s sticky tip, which receives pollen
True-to-type: conforming to the known characteristics of a known plant variety
Variety: a phenotypically distinct, naturally occurring population of plants within a species: commonly used as a synonym for “cultivar”
Vernalization: the exposure of a plant to low temperatures, enabling the plant to flower
