Regarding terminology, the following sites contain glossaries of botanical terms you may come across. The first link is orchid specific but not particularly extensive. It should be OK for basic, commonly used terms but if you want to make sense of the gobbledygook used in plant descriptions the latter two will be more useful.
A Botanical Glossary - Terminology Related To Orchids A Short Botanical Glossary - Jim Croft Botany.com: Plant Encyclopedia to Identify Plants, Flowers, Trees & More