A Rosarian's Glossary of Terms

AARS: All American Rose Selection

ARS: American Rose Society

Blade: the broad part of a leaf

Bract: a modified or reduced leaf that occurs beneath and next to a peduncle

Bud union: the swollen part of the stem where the scion of a grafted rose meets the understock

Calyx: the protective cover of a rose flower, composed o the sepals

Cane: one of the main stems of a rose plant

Corolla: the petals of a rose flower considered as a single unit

CR: Consulting Rosarian.  A rosarian that has taken schools and has passed ARS tests in order to be a responsible spokesperson for successful rose growing.

CRS: Connecticut Rose Society

Cultivar: a named rose variety exhibiting distinct and consistent features, indicated by single quotation marks

Exhibitor: One who enters roses in rose shows.

Exhibitionist: Not a term usually associated with Rosarians.

Hardy: The rose will usually survive the winter.  Is only a useful term when a climate zone is used in conjunction. "Hardy to Zone 5" means that the plant can be grown 'safely' for most winters in Connecticut.  For winters worse than average, and for hybrid teas in particular, the canes may be black and dead to near ground level (yet the plant usually survives).

Hip: the fruit of a rose

Inflorescence: the flowering part of a plant; a rose inflorescence may bear single or multiple flowers but the term is generally used for multiple blooms

IPM: Integrated Pest Management.  A combination of prudent pest control practices that emphasizes use of fewer and less-toxic chemicals in order to maintain a balance between pest infrestation and environmental friendliness. For insects and mites, for example, an IPM approach would include spraying for the pests only if they are a 'problem', and then with the least-strong measures that are successful to the tolerance of the rose grower.  An appropriate related term is "adequate control", not "eradication".

Leaflet: the individual segment of a compound rose leaf

Node: the point on a stem from which leaves and buds emerge

Old rose: strictly speaking, a rose introduced before 1867, but more loosely used to describe any rose grown or introduced before 1900 Once-blooming: a rose that flowers only once in early summer and does not repeat

Own root: a rose propagated as a cutting rather than by grafting

Peduncle: a stalk that supports a single flower or flower cluster

Petal: the showy, usually colored part of a flower

Petiole: the stalk by which a leaf attaches to a stem; also leafstalk

Pistil: the female reproductive organ of a flower, consisting of an ovary, style, and stigma

Prickle: the technical term for a rose thorn

Remontant: blooming more than once a season; also recurrent

Rootstock: the root portion of a plant onto which the scion is grafted; also understock

Rosarian: One who knows about growing roses; or grows roses

Scion: a shoot grafted onto a rootstock; the "top" of a grafted rose

Sepal: one of the five individual, leaflike divisions of the calyx

Sport: a spontaneous genetic mutation, often resulting in a plant that bears flowers of a different color or with more or fewer petals than the original plant

Stamen: the male reproductive organ of a flower, consisting of a filament and anther

Stipule: a small, leaflike appendage that occurs at the base of the petiole

Sucker: a stem, usually unwanted, that originates from a rootstock

Source for many of the terms: Weeks Roses