SUB-: Under, below, or almost.
SUBAXILLARY: Situated under an axil, as a subaxillary bud.
SUBCLASS: In plant and animal classification, a taxonomic category of related orders within a class.
SUBFAMILY: A taxonomic group of related genera (groups) within a family.
SUBGENUS: A category in taxonomy of related species within a genus (group).
SUBHERBACEOUS: A herbaceous plant that becomes more woody later in the growing season.
SUBIRRIGATION: The natural or deliberate irrigation through the control of the water table that will raise water into the root zone.
SUBMERGED: 1. Adapted to grow, or growing under water. 2 Under water.
SUBPETIOLAR: Located under or within the base of the petiole, as the leaf buds of the plane tree.
SUB-SHRUB: A perennial that has a woody base, but whose herbaceous shoots die back in the winter.
SUBSOIL: The soil which lies beneath that which is cultivated; it is usually hard and infertile. When the ground is being dug up to form a garden, the subsoil shouldn't be brought up to the surface and the upper soil buried. The subsoil can be improved by digging deeply and adding manure, compost and other organic materials.
SUBSPECIES: A taxonomic subdivision of a species, often with a distinct geographic distribution.
SUBSPECIFIC: Of the nature of a subspecies; not quite specific.
SUBSTRATE: The medium on which an organism lives, as soil or rock.
SUBSTRATUM: A term for any layer lying beneath the subsoil or solum.
SUBTEND: To occur below, as a bract below a flower.
SUBULATE: Awl-shaped; slender, more or less cylindrical and tapering to a point.
SUBVARIETAL: Varying slightly; having the character of a subvariety.
SUBVARIETY: A subordinate variety; the further and minor modification of a variety, as a strain or line.
SUBTROPICAL: Subtropical plants are those which can survive somewhat lower temperatures than genuine tropical plants and even an occasional light frost.
SUCCESSION CROPPING: The method of growing new plants in the space left by the harvested ones.
SUCCESSION OF CROPS: The rotation of crops. (See rotation of crops.)
SUCCUBOUS: Overlapping with the anterior edge of one leaf passing beneath the posterior edge of that succeeding it. Opposite of incubous; said of leaves.
SUCCULENT: A plant with thick fleshy leaves and/or stems that are adapted to store water. (These include all cacti, though not all succulents are cacti. See Cactus.) Stem succulents, which store large amounts of water in their enlarged stems, are often columnar, round, or barrel-shaped. Almost all cacti are stem succulents. Root succulents store water underground in their swollen roots. Even though their stems and leaves may also be fleshy, the main water-storing tissue of these succulents lies in the tuberous roots. Leaf succulents form a large group of varied plants. These plants store water in their thick, fleshy leaves, which wither in drought and swell up again when water is accessible. Many leaf succulents have practically no stems, simply forming rosettes of overlapping leaves.
SUCKER: These are similar to runners except that the horizontal parts of their stems are below the surface of the soil. Rooted suckers can be dug up and planted elsewhere. Shoots that grow from the understock on which a tree or shrub is budded are also called suckers. These should be cut off as low down as possible, otherwise they may kill off the named varieties that have been grafted or budded onto the understocks.
SUFFRUTESCENT: Somewhat or slightly woody at the base; subshrubby.
SUFFRUTICOSE: Having stems that are woody at the base and herbaceous above.
SULCATE: Furrowed lengthwise, such as pseudobulbs. Having long, narrow lengthwise channels or grooves, as plant stems.
SULFUR: A yellow mineral used as a dust or wet table powder for control of various diseases and insects, including powdery mildew, rust, and mites.
SUPERPHOSPHATE: A fertilizer that supplies phosphorus and can force some plants to grow faster.
SUPRAFOLIACEOUS: Inserted on the stem above a leaf, as a peduncle or flower.
SUPRAFOLIAR: Growing above a leaf.
SURCULOSE: Producing suckers.
SURCULUS: A sucker.
SURFACE FREEZE: A ground condition in which the moisture found on the surface freezes in cold temperatures, thus causing frost heaves.
SUTURE: The seam between two edges, as where carpels of a pericarp join, marking the line of dehiscence, or opening.