Glossary | Forage Information System

Define terms to be used throughout the site

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Click one of the letters above to be taken to a page of all terms beginning with that letter.

C3-plant: a plant employing ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase as the primary CO2-capturing enzyme, with the first product being a 3-carbon acid, also display photorespiration.
C4-plant: a plant employing phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase as the primary CO2-capturing enzyme, with the first product being a 4-carbon acid, does not display photorespiration.
calorie (gram calorie): The amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1g of water one degree Celsius. One kilocalorie (kcal) = 1,000 calories; one megacalorie (Mcal) = 1,000,000 calories.
canopy: canopy The aerial portion of plants in their natural growth position; usually expressed as percent of ground so occupied or as leaf area index.
carbohydrate: Compound of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen in the ratio of CH2O, as in sugar, starch, and cellulose.
carbohydrates, nonstructural: Soluble carbohydrates found in the cell contents, as contrasted with structural carbohydrates in the cell walls. Assumed to be available to support life processes.
carbohydrates, structural: Carbohydrates found in the cell walls (e.g. hemicellulose, cellulose); assumed to not be available to support life processes.
caryopsis: Small, one-seeded, dry fruit with a thin pericarp surrounding and adhering to the seed; the ripened fruit of grasses, a single seed or kernel of grain.
cecum: Intestinal pouch located at the junction of larger and small intestines of non-ruminants. Functions somewhat similar to a rumen. Usually it is much larger in the hebivorous horse than in the nonherbivorous monogastrics.
cell wall constituents: Compounds that make up or constitute the cell wall, including cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and minerals (ash).
cell wall content: The proportion of plant material made up of cell walls as opposed to cell contents, usually determined by solubility differential.
cellulase: Enzymes that digest cellulose to hexose units.
cellulose: A carbohydrate formed from glucose that is linked by beta 1, 4 bounds, a major constituent of plant cell walls. a colorless solid; insoluble in water.
certified: Meeting a specified standard.
climatologist: One versed in, or who studies, climatology.
climatology: The meteorological study of climates and their phenomena
coated seed: Seed for planting purposes to which a substantial amount of foreign material is used to cover each seed to make the seed uniform in size and shape and free-flowing, or to serve as a carrier of fertilizer, pesticides, nitrogen-fixing microorganisms, coloring, or other additives. Synonym: pelleted seed.
collar: A thin band of meristematic tissue at the junction of the leaf blade and sheath in grasses.
coloration: Arrangement of colors.
companion crop: A crop such as a small grain that is sown with another crop, especially one that will emerge and develop slowly, such as a forage crop. Preferred to the term nurse crop.
concentrate: All feed, low in fiber and high in total digestible nutrients, that supplies primary nutrients (protein, carbohydrate, and fat); for example, grains, cottonseed meal, wheat bran.
continuous stocking: A method of grazing livestock on a given unit of land where animals have unrestricted and uninterrupted access throughout the time period when grazing is allowed. Usage: Specify the length of the grazing period.
cool-season grass: Grass species that grow best during cool, moist periods of the year; they commonly have temperature optimums of 15 to 25'C (59 to 77'F.)
coumarin: A white, crystalline compound with a vanilla-like odor that gives sweetclover its characteristic odor. An antiquality component of sweetclover.
coumestrol: Estrogenic factor occurring naturally in forage crops, especially in ladino clover, strawberry clover, and alfalfa.
crimped: Rolled with corrugated rollers, especially fresh forage, to break stems and facilitate drying.
crown: Base or stem where roots arise.
crown rust: Latin name Puccinia coronata Cda.
crude fiber: Coarse, fibrous portions of plants, such as cellulose, that are partially digestible and relatively low in nutritional value. In chemical analysis, it is the residue obtained after boiling plant material with dilute acid and then with dilute alkali. Term is being replaced with more specific NDF (neutral detergent fiber) and ADF (acid detergent fiber). Coarse, fibrous portions of plants, such as cellulose, that are partially digestible and relatively low in nutritional value. In chemical analysis, it is the residue obtained after boiling plant material with dilute acid and then with dilute alkali. Term is being replaced with more specific NDF (neutral detergent fiber) and ADF (acid detergent fiber). Coarse, fibrous portions of plants, such as cellulose, that are partially digestible and relatively low in nutritional value. In chemical analysis, it is the residue obtained after boiling plant material with dilute acid and then with dilute alkali. Term is being replaced with more specific NDF (neutral detergent fiber) and ADF (acid detergent fiber).
cubing: Process of forming hay into high-density cubes to facilitate transportation, storage, and feeding.
culm: The central axis of the flowering shoot of grasses, comprised of distinct nodes and internodes, each node bearing a leaf. The upper-most culm internode supporting the seed head is called the peduncle.
cultivar: (1) A variety, strain, or race that has originated and persisted under cultivation or was specifically developed for the purpose of cultivation. (2) For cultivated plants, the equivalent of botanical variety, in accordance with the International Code of Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants--1980.
cuticle: a waxy layer secreted by epidermal cells on the outer surface on plants.
cutin: A way layer secreted by epidermal cells on the outer surface on plants.
cyanogenesis: The release of hydrocyanic acid (HCN) in the process of chemical change. Cyanogenetic is the adjective form.