"Hypoplasia" means a couple of different things in various biomedical sciences:
- A medical condition where an organ or tissue has less than the normal amount of cells that it needs to fully develop. Such an organ or tissue is smaller in size than normal.
- Destruction of part of an organ or tissue which results in its becoming atrophied.
- In botany, it refers to any plant disease which results in lower than normal numbers of cells being produced, so that the plant is unable to fully develop its organs and/or tissues.
From the BioTech Dictionary at http://biotech.icmb.utexas.edu/. For further information see the BioTech homenode.