Word of the Week

Reniform: Shaped like a kidney* Garlic mustard overwinters as a small plant and then gets an early start in spring. The young leaves are reniform. Now is a great time …

Rimose: With fissures or cracks, as in the bark of some trees.* *Harris, J.G., Harris, M.W. (2001). Plant identification terminology: An illustrated glossary (2nd ed.). Spring Lake: Spring Lake Publishing.

Inosculation: Fusing together of woody stems where they come in contact with each other; this can happen within one individual or between two or more individuals.* The braided stems of …

Microclimate: The atmospheric characteristics prevailing within a small space, usually in the layer near the ground that is affected by the ground surface.* The sheltered corner of our Westview Terrace faces …

Excurrent branching: Tree growth in which the main axis continues to the top of the tree from which smaller, lateral branches arise (as in conifers).* *Burns, Russell M. and Barbara H. …

Deliquescent branching: A mode of branching in trees in which the trunk divides into many branches leaving no central axis, as in elms.* Many deciduous trees have deliquescent branching patterns. *Burns, …

Invasive: A non-native plant that is reproducing on its own and interfering with the normal functions and/or composition of an ecosystem.* February 25 – March 3, 2019 is Invasive Species Awareness …