Columbia Encyclopedia

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plant

(Encyclopedia)plant, any organism of the plant kingdom, as opposed to one of the animal kingdom or of the kingdoms Fungi, Protista, or Monera in the five-kingdom system of classification. (A more recent system, sug...

dioecious plant

(Encyclopedia)dioecious plant dīēˈshəs [key], plant in which the male and female reproductive structures are found in different individuals, as distinct from a monoecious plant (see hermaphrodite), in which the...

compass plant

(Encyclopedia)compass plant or rosinweed, large, coarse North American perennial herb (Silphium laciniatum) of the family Asteraceae (aster family), found chiefly in open grasslands. The deeply cut leaves tend to p...

climbing plant

(Encyclopedia)climbing plant, any plant that in growing to its full height requires some support. Climbing plants may clamber over a support (climbing rose), twine up a slender support (hop, honeysuckle), or grasp ...

ice plant

(Encyclopedia)ice plant, low, fleshy plant (Cryophytum crystalinum) of warm, dry, barren regions. It is cultivated chiefly as a curiosity because of its leaves, densely coated with small, glistening, bladder-shaped...

herbaceous plant

(Encyclopedia)herbaceous plant hûrbāˈshəs [key], plant whose stem is soft and green and shows little growth of wood. The term is used to distinguish such plants from woody plants. Herbaceous plants, or herbs, a...

wax plant

(Encyclopedia)wax plant: see milkweed.

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