WHAT IS AN ORCHID?

sheath - the protective covering of buds.

hybrids - the offspring of a cross between species; often made by man sometimes natural.

foliage - leaves

terrestrials - plants that live on the ground.

lead - new growth

eye - incipient bud of a vegetative growth.

rhizomes - creeping stems made from successive shoots.

mericlone - plantlet produced by meristem propagation.

hardening - maturation of new growth

terete - leaves which are round in cross-section

tropics - most epiphytes grow here

peloric - petals copy-cat the lip

labiate - one leaf

monopodial - grows vertically

pseudobulb - thickened stems of a Cattleya

sympodial - grows horizontally

bilateral - two leaves

keiki - offshoot from a plant

sepals - the three outer segments of the flower

velamen - spongy layer of cells which covers roots.

lip - modified petal

column - the central organ of a flower

nectar - sugary secretions

spike - short-stalked flowers on an upright stem

pouch - two lateral sepals which are fused

division - clump of growths cut from mother plant

bud - a flower before opening

petals - the three inner segments of a flower

backbulb - old pseudobulb often without leaves.