--- title: "Floristry glossary: 31 terms florists use, in English and Chinese | Floreboard" url: https://floreboard.com/en/guides/floristry-glossary/ language: en last_reviewed: 2026-10-06 publisher: Floreboard (芳华绘) --- # Floristry glossary 31 floristry terms explained in plain language, each with its Chinese equivalent: design roles, ikebana vocabulary, mechanics, conditioning and pricing. Anther 花药The pollen-bearing tip of the stamen. Florists remove lily anthers to stop pollen staining clothes.Bent neck 弯颈A rose head that droops just below the bloom, usually from an air block in the stem. Recut and stand deep in warm water.Biedermeier 比德迈尔A classic round European bouquet of tightly packed blooms in concentric rings, usually finished with a foliage collar.Botrytis 灰霉病A grey mould that spots and rots petals kept wet or crowded. Keep petals dry and give the flowers air.Conditioning 预处理（醒花）Preparing stems before arranging: recut, strip the lower leaves, and let them drink in clean water with flower food for a few hours in a cool place.Ethylene 乙烯A gas given off by ripening fruit, fading flowers and exhaust. It makes sensitive flowers drop petals and wilt early.Filler flower 配花（填充花）Small or clustered blooms that fill gaps and soften the transition between focal flowers and foliage.Floral foam 花泥A water-absorbing block that holds stems at any angle. Convenient, but single-use plastic; many designers now prefer reusable mechanics.Flower food 保鲜剂A sachet mix of sugar for energy, an acidifier that helps water uptake and a biocide that keeps bacteria down.Focal flower 主花（焦点花）The largest, most eye-catching blooms that set the theme of a design. Designers usually keep to three kinds or fewer.Foliage 叶材Leaves and greenery that frame a design, hide the mechanics and define its outline.Forcing 催花Bringing branches cut in bud into warmth so they flower early indoors — forsythia, plum, peach, cherry.Geotropism 向地性The tendency of spikes such as snapdragon and gladiolus to bend upward when laid flat — store them upright.Guard petals 保护瓣The tough outer petals of a rose that protected the bud. Bruised ones are peeled off; healthy ones can stay.Hand-tied bouquet 手扎花束A bouquet assembled in the hand and tied at one binding point, so it can stand in a vase without rearranging.Ikebana (kado) 花道（生け花）The Japanese art of arranging flowers, organised into schools such as Ikenobo, Ohara and Sogetsu, each with its own forms.Kenzan 剑山A heavy metal base studded with upright pins that holds stems in a shallow container.Line flower 线条花Tall spikes or branches that establish height, width and direction — delphinium, snapdragon, gladiolus.Ma (negative space) 留白（间）The deliberate empty space in East Asian arranging; what is left out matters as much as what is placed.Margin 利润率Profit divided by selling price. A 3× markup is a 67% margin on materials.Markup 加价倍率Selling price divided by cost. A 3× markup means a stem that costs 1 sells for 3.Mechanics 固定方式Whatever holds the stems in place: a kenzan, a grid of tape, chicken wire, foam, or the spiral of a hand-tied bouquet.Moribana 盛花The "piled-up flowers" style created by the Ohara school: a low, wide arrangement in a shallow container with visible water.Production sheet 制作稿The working document for making a design: recipe, container, mechanics, stem lengths and assembly order.Recipe 配方The exact list of stems, by kind and count, that goes into one design.Rikka 立花The oldest formal Ikenobo style: a tall, upright composition that represents a natural landscape.Shin, soe, tai 真、副、体The three main lines of a classical ikebana arrangement, traditionally in heights of roughly 7 : 5 : 3.Shoka 生花A simpler Ikenobo style built on three main lines — shin, soe and tai — rising from a single point.Spiral technique 螺旋花脚Laying each stem at the same angle around the binding point so the stems fan out like a spiral and the bouquet stands on its own.Suiban 水盘The shallow, wide container used for moribana.Vase life 水养寿命（瓶插期）How many days a cut stem stays presentable in water. It depends on variety, origin, and above all conditioning and clean water. [Floral design styles compared](https://floreboard.com/en/guides/floral-design-styles/) · [Cut flower care and conditioning guide](https://floreboard.com/en/guides/cut-flower-care/) · [Flower arrangement checklist before delivery](https://floreboard.com/en/guides/arrangement-checklist/) · [How florists price arrangements: cost, markup and margin](https://floreboard.com/en/guides/florist-pricing-and-margin/) ## FAQ ### What does conditioning flowers mean? Preparing stems before arranging: recut, strip the lower leaves, and let them drink in clean water with flower food for a few hours in a cool place. ### What is a kenzan in floristry? A heavy metal base studded with upright pins that holds stems in a shallow container. ### What is a focal flower in floristry? The largest, most eye-catching blooms that set the theme of a design. Designers usually keep to three kinds or fewer. ### What is ethylene and why does it matter for flowers? A gas given off by ripening fruit, fading flowers and exhaust. It makes sensitive flowers drop petals and wilt early. Last reviewed: 2026-10-06. [About our data](https://floreboard.com/en/about/)