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Aboriginal Plant
Plants that are of importance and interest to Aboriginal peoples in Canada. Some are native to North America while others are exotic plants (such as yarrow) that were introduced very early to Canada and became of use in Aboriginal cultural practice.

Alien Species
Synonyms: non-native, exotic, non-indigenous, foreign
A species, subspecies, or lower taxon introduced outside its original distribution area. In plants, it includes any part, gametes, seeds, eggs, or propagules of such species that might survive and subsequently reproduce.

Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the variety of life forms on Earth. It includes genetic diversity and the concepts of species and ecosystem diversity as well as the ecological processes of which they are a part. The word 'biodiversity' is a contraction of 'biological diversity'.

Biological Control
Synonym: biocontrol
The use of parasites, predators and pathogens for the regulation of unwanted animal or plant populations.

Biotype
Synonym: genotype
A population within a species that has distinct genetic variation.

Clone
Plants derived vegetatively from one parent plant. They are genetically identical to each other and to the parent. This may occur naturally or artificially.

Cultivar
Any variety of a plant that has been produced by horticultural techniques and is not represented by wild populations. The word 'cultivar' is a contraction of the words cultivated and variety. See also Ecovar.

Ecoregion
A sub-category of ecozone.

Ecotype
Ecotypes are examples of the same species that are found in different habitats and have evolved specific adaptations to their differing environments (such as the white cedars growing on cliffs along the Eardley Escarpment in Quebec and those growing in swamps in the Marlborough Forest in Ontario).

Ecovar
Selections of native plant species usually collected from a large geographic area of genetic diversity, which are developed by phenotypic selections for specific traits. Ecovars have somewhat greater genetic diversity than many cultivars.

Ecozone
A category within an ecological classification system. In Canada there are 15 terrestrial and five maritime ecozones. Each ecozone is generally characterized by particular land features (geology and geography), climate (precipitation, temperature, latitude) and organisms. Ecoregions are a finer classification of ecozones; there are 200 ecoregions in Canada.

Endangered Species
A species that is facing imminent extirpation or extinction.

Endemic Species
A native species whose distribution is comparatively restricted, usually confined to a certain region.

Ethnobotany
The investigation of human interactions with plants.

Extirpated Species
Native species that no longer exist in the wild in any part of their original distribution area, although they may exist elsewhere.

Exotic Species
See Alien Species.

Extinct Species
Any species that no longer exists anywhere on Earth.

Flora
The species of plants found in a particular area. Also, a publication listing and (usually) describing the species of plants found in a particular area.

Genotype
See Biotype.

Genus
A unit of biological classification that groups organisms with common characteristics that make them distinct from organisms of other genera. A genus usually contains several or many species.

Habitat
The set of ecological conditions under which particular species and their communities live.

Herbivore
An animal that eats plants exclusively.

Hybrid
The offspring of two parents of different species or subspecies.

Indigenous Species
An indigenous species is one that naturally grows within a particular portion of the total species range and whose genetic material has adapted to that specific location. See also Native Species.

Integrated Pest Management
Pest control using an array of complementary approaches including natural predators, parasites, pest-resistant plant varieties, pesticides, and other biological and environmental control practices.

Introduced Species
See Alien Species.

Invasive Alien Species
Invasive alien species are species that have been introduced outside their natural distribution area, and which exhibit rapid growth, reproduction and dispersal to such an extent that they are highly competitive to native species, destructive and difficult to control, particularly if the new ecosystem lacks the predators or pathogens of their own native range. Such introduction or spread threatens the environment, the economy, or society, including human health.

Medicinal Plant
Plants used by humans for therapeutic purposes.

Native Species
A species that occurs naturally in a particular geographic area. In Canada and the U.S., it usually refers to a species that existed in a given area prior to historical European settlement. See also Indigneous Species.

Naturalized Species
An alien species that has been introduced to an area and has adapted to the growing conditions of that area, so that it is able to survive and reproduce without human assistance or cultivation.

Non-Naturalized Species
An alien species that is capable of growing with assistance or cultivation, but does not successfully reproduce and disperse in the wild. Such plants usually do not persist without being replanted on a regular basis.

Noxious Weed
A weed specified by law as being especially undesirable, troublesome and difficult to control. Definition will vary according to legal interpretations.

Original Source
The location of the native plant or plants from which seed or propagules were collected.

Phenotype
The detectable characteristics associated with a particular genotype and its environment.

Pioneer Species
A plant species that colonizes habitat that was previously unoccupied or sparsely occupied by that species. In the successive settlement of an area by plant species, such as after a fire, pioneer species lead the process.

Propagule
Any plant part that is capable of independent propagation of a new individual.

Range
The known geographical distribution of a species.

Species
A group of closely related organisms that are capable of interbreeding and are reproductively isolated from other groups of organisms (in other words, they can breed among themselves and not with others); the basic unit of biological classification.

Subspecies
Synonym: variety
A subdivision of a species.

Taxon
A category used in classification, as, for example, species, genus, family, etc. A living taxon is a system of populations of genetically related individuals.

Threatened Species
A species likely to become endangered if limiting factors are not reversed.

Variety
See Subspecies.

Weed
A plant that grows where it is not wanted and that may have detectable negative economic or environmental effects. Such plants are not necessarily alien.

Wildflowers
A flowering plant that grows in a natural uncultivated state. Not all wildflowers are native; some, such as Queen Anne's lace (Daucus carota), purple loosestrife (Lythrum salicaria) and most dandelions (e.g. Taraxacum officinale), are introduced.