Helpful terms

Helpful terms

Herbaceous: 
Plants with stems that are usually soft and bendable. Herbaceous stems die back to the ground every year.

Woody: 
Plants with stems, such as tree trunks, that are hard and do not bend easily. Woody stems usually don't die back to the ground each year.

Photosynthesis:
A process by which a plant produces its food using energy from sunlight, carbon dioxide from the air, and water and nutrients from the soil.

Pollination: 
The movement of pollen from one plant to another. Pollination is necessary for seeds to form in flowering plants.

What's the difference between a fruit and a vegetable? 

A fruit is what a flower becomes after it is pollinated. The seeds for the plant are inside the fruit.

Vegetables are other plant parts. Carrots are roots. Asparagus stalks are stems. Lettuce is leaves.

Foods we often call vegetables when cooking are really fruits because they contain seeds inside.