Category: P

Group term used to describe children from 12 to 60 months age, who are often nutritionally vulnerable. Younger pre-school children fall in the age group 12-36 months, and older pre-school children in the group 36 to 60 months.  

Stabilization of a colloidal system by the addition of peptizing agents; these prevent coalescence by inducing surface charges on the colloidal particles. In the chemistry of colloids, the process of making a colloidal solution more stable; conversion of a gel to a sol.  

Apparent whorls of leaves, which on close examination are seen to be spirally arranged, the result of seasonal growth patterns in which the leaves are crowded at the end of a branch’s growth spurt. Rhododendrons are an example.  

A container for growing plants, roughly cylindrical in shape with a drainage hole or holes in the bottom. Traditionally made from terracotta, pots are now mostly plastic. Pots larger than about 15 in (50 cm) diameter are generally referred to as tubs. Potpourri A mix of sweet-smelling dried herbs and petals, usually placed in a…

A pattern of coloration in flowers, achieved mainly in carnation (Dianthus) cultivars, in which the petals each have a narrow border of strongly contrasting color giving the flower a lacy effect.  

A structure built in the garden, usually with walls or posts and a roof of open beams, on which climbing plants can be grown. A pergola may be circular or square, or elongated and open at the ends, forming a passageway.  

The preserved and compressed remains of dead bog plants, usually either sphagnum moss or sedges. The natural acidity of some bogs prevents the dead plant material from decaying, so that it accumulates and over time forms thick deposits. Peat is extracted from these deposits and used for many purposes, including horticultural uses. It is termed…

A drug which stops or delays the action of the enzyme cholinesterase, used to treat myasthenia gravis.  

A group of nerve fibres within the pyramid of the medulla oblongata in the brain. It is thought to be vital in controlling movement and speech. A complex pathway of brain tissue and nerves that controls fine, skilled movements, so called because the nerve tracts look like pyramids under a microscope. The tracts of the…

A cone-shaped cell in the cerebral cortex. A type of neuron found in the cerebral cortex, with a pyramid-shaped cell body, a branched dendrite extending from the apex toward the brain surface, several dendrites extending horizontally from the base, and an axon running in the white matter of the hemisphere.