SAPROPHYTE. An organism, usually fungal or bacteria, that obtains its food from dead organic matter.

SCABROUS. Rough to the touch.

SCALPING. Mowing too close so that the soil or brown stubbly portions of the turfgrass are exposed.

SCARIFICATION. Slicing into the soil.

SCLERENCHYMA. Structural cells with thick walls.

SCLEROTIUM. (Pl. Sclerotia) A small, hardened, mass of interwoven fungal hyphae. It is a resting structure that spores may develop from.

SCUTELLUM. An embryo axis modified for digestion and absorption of the endosperm.

SEDGES. A family of plants resembling grasses, but having triangular stems.

SEEDING RATE. The amount of seed applied per unit area. Usually given in gm/m2.

SELECTIVE HERBICIDE. A weed killer, that when applied to a mixed community of plants, will kill some species and not others.

SESSILE. A flower or leaf attached without a stalk is said to be sessile.

SHEATH. The tubular, lower portion of the grass leaf that clasps the stem.

SHOOT DENSITY. The number of grass shoots per unit area. The unit is usually one square inch.

SLICING. A type of turfgrass cultivation in which vertical knives produce deep cuts in the soil which are left open.

SLIME MOULD. A primitive fungus whose plasmodium flows over the host plant like an amoeba. Slime moulds may be removed from turf by brushing and hosing.

SLURRY. A thick suspension of a finely divided material in a liquid.

SMUT. A disease caused by a smut fungus, or the fungus itself. It has masses of dark brown to black spores.

SPATULATE. A leaf which gradually enlarges from the base to form a rounded end like a spatula.

SPECIES. A unit of plant classification; individuals are of common genetic descent. In the binomial Poa pratensis L. (Kentucky Bluegrass), pratensis is the specific epithet.

SPIKING. A method of turf cultivation in which solid tines are used to make holes in the soil. SPIKELET. A small group of grass flowers; together they compose a spike.

SPORE. An asexual reproductive structure of cryptograms i.e. fungi, bacteria.

SPOT SPRAYING. Applying a herbicide to specific locations or pests. Opposite of broadcast spraying.

SPREADER. A material added to a spray preparation to improve the contact between the chemical and the surface of the plant. This usually occurs due to a reduction of surface tension.

SPRIGGING. A means of vegetative turf establishment by planting stolons or rhizomes in rows or furrows.

SOIL REACTION. The degree of acidity or alkalinity of a soil expressed as pH.

SPREADER-STICKER. An adjuvant which reduces surface tension and improves the contact and adherence of a spray material to the plant surface.

STAMEN. A male flower part consisting of the pollen-bearing anther and the filament which supports it.

STICKER. See spreader sticker.

STEM. A major supporting structure in plants with leaves, nodes or buds attached.

STERILANT. A chemical that destroys all living organisms in a substance.

STIGMA. The part of the pistil that receives the pollen.

STOLON. A horizontal, above ground, stem capable of rooting at the nodes, and producing new plants. Stolons arise outside the leaf sheath.

STYLET. A piercing structure found in some nematodes and used to penetrate the host plant and remove the plant juices.

SUBSTRATE. The substance or object on which an organism lives and may or may not obtain nourishment from the substrate.

SUCCESSION. The process through which species replace each other through competition.

SUCCULENT. Tissue that is watery and soft. Often the result of high rates of nitrogen fertilisation.

SUMMER ANNUAL. A plant whose seeds germinate in the spring, grows to maturity during the summer, develops seeds, and then dies during the winter.

SURFACTANT. A material which reduces the surface tension between a liquid and a hydrophobic surface. A spreader, wetter, dispersing or sticking agent. Used to improve the contact between the spray and the surface being sprayed.

SUSPENSION. A mixture in which the pesticide, in the form of finely divided particles, is dispersed in a solid, liquid, or gaseous formulation. Example: A wettable powder in water.

SWARD. A turf area maintained as a lawn.

SYNERGIST. Any substance that increases the toxicity of a pesticide.

SYRINGING. Sprinkling the turf with a light application of water. This may be done to reduce temperature, prevent water loss or wash off fungous spores. Midday syringing does not cause the turf to be sunburned.

SYSTEMIC. A chemical that is absorbed into and distributed throughout most of the plant tissues. Also a disease that spreads throughout the plant.