| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| photosynthesis | the process by which green plants and some other organisms use sunlight to synthesize nutrients from carbon dioxide and water. Photosynthesis in plants generally involves the green pigment chlorophyll and generates oxygen as a by-product. |
| stoma | any of the minute pores in the epidermis of the leaf or stem of a plant, forming a slit of variable width which allows movement of gases in and out of the intercellular spaces |
| stomata | Plural for stoma |
| xylem | primarily involved in transporting water and nutrient (from the roots to the shoot and leaves) and providing structural support. |
| phloem | the vascular tissue in plants which conducts sugars and other metabolic products downwards from the leaves. |
| chloroplast | a plastid in green plant cells which contains chlorophyll and in which photosynthesis takes place. |
| autotroph | an organism that is able to form nutritional organic substances from simple inorganic substances such as carbon dioxide. |
| germination | the process by which a plant grows from a seed. |
| trace elements | a chemical element required only in minute amounts by living organisms for normal growth. |
| macrominerals | referred to as trace minerals, meaning they are present at low levels |
| macronutrients | Nutrients needed in large amounts by the plant for its growth |
| trace elements | Nutrients needed in very small amounts for plant growth |
| seed coat | he protective outer coat of a seed. |
| cotyledon | an embryonic leaf in seed-bearing plants, one or more of which are the first leaves to appear from a germinating seed. |
| embryo | the part of a seed which develops into a plant, consisting (in the mature embryo of a higher plant) of a plumule, a radicle, and one or two cotyledons. |
