annual plant

annual plant

any plant that germinates from seed, grows to maturity and produces new seed all within one year or growing season. Since the life-cycle duration is so short, annuals are usually herbaceous rather than woody. Examples include groundsel, shepherd's purse. See BIENNIAL, PERENNIAL.

plant

a member of the vegetable kingdom; living things characterized by absence of locomotion, absence of special senses, and feeding only on inorganic substances.

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abortigenic plant

plants that cause abortion include Pinus, Cupressus and Astragalus spp.

plant alkaloids

see alkaloid.

annual plant

one that completes its life cycle within one year. A winter annual plant germinates in the fall, overwinters as a seedling and flowers and seeds in spring. The dominant grazing species in the early spring. Examples would be many mustard weeds of disturbed places incriminated in the congenital hypothyroid dysmaturity syndrome in foals.

plant awns

sharp, long processes attached to seed casings of plants, mostly grasses; important causes of skin and oral lesions in grazing animals, and to housed animals when fed hay containing the plants.

biennial plant

one that completes its life cycle in two years, generally germinating and growing in the first year and flowering, fruiting and subsequently dying in the second year.

plant eating

both dogs and cats may eat grass; indoor animals sometimes eat ornamental plants, some of which are poisonous.

plant edemagens

plant substances that cause edema in animals, e.g. 3-methyl indole, produced in the rumen from tryptophan.

plant hormones

organic substances produced by plants which are extracted and used as herbicides or plant growth stimulants. Some of them cause long-term ill health in animals if drunk in large quantities.

perennial plant

one that completes its life cycle over more than two years.

plant poisoning

the list of poison plants is very large and it is necessary to know the suspect plant's botanical name to begin an effective search for information about it. In order to exert an effect on an animal the plant has, in most cases, to be eaten. There are a few plants that exert a toxic effect by inhalation or by skin contact.

plant protein

the proteins in plants. Common, protein-rich plants include alfalfa, the oilseed meals, e.g. soyabean, cottonseed and linseed meals, clover, the legume seeds, e.g. peas, beans.

teratogenic plant

plants that cause congenital defects include Lupinus, Lathyrus, Leucaena, Nicotiana, Conium, Astragalus, Oxytropis, Veratrum, Vicia, Salsola spp.

plant toxins

phytotoxins, elaborated by plants, in some cases incorporating an inorganic element, e.g. selenocompounds, and in some cases present in the plant in an inert state, requiring an additional ingredient, e.g. ruminal fermentation to activate it.