Definition: The seasonal period in the U.S. during which the plant blooms the most. The bloom period is defined as the time when pollen is shed and stigmas are receptive.
Attribution: USDA PLANTS database Characteristics Data Fields. http://plants.usda.gov/charinfo.html
Definition: The relative tolerance of the plant to calcareous soil. Calcareous soil is defined as soil containing sufficient free CaCO3 and other carbonates to effervesce visibly or audibly when treated with cold 0.1M HCl. These soils usually contain from 10 to almost 1000g/kg CaCO3 equivalent.
Attribution: USDA PLANTS database Characteristics Data Fields. http://plants.usda.gov/charinfo.html
Definition: The percentage of organic carbon divided by the percentage of total nitrogen in organic material is higher than 59.
Comment: USDA Plants database specifies the organic material as either the above ground biomass of an herbaceous plant or the above ground herbaceous material of a woody plant.
Attribution: USDA Plants database. Characteristics Data Fields. http://plants.usda.gov/charinfo.html
Definition: The ability of an organism to resist burning.
Comment: If a plant can carry a fire—and most can—it is scored as "not fire resistant" in the USDA PLANTS database where this characteristic is evaluated with reference to problem fires in California. http://plants.usda.gov/charinfo.html
Definition: A color hue with medium-low wavelength of that portion of the visible spectrum lying between yellow and blue, evoked in the human observer by radiant energy with wavelengths of approximately 490 to 570 nanometers.
Definition: Determined for type of life cycle being annual, binneal, perennial etc.
Comment: The life cycle habit indicates the typical duration of an individual plant's life. Common values are annual, biennial, and perennial. Some plants have different durations depending on environment or location, so a plant can have more than one value.
Definition: Of plant duration, a plant whose life span extends over more than two growing seasons, c.f. annual, biennial, ephemeral, of flowering with respect to architecture, hapaxanthic, monocarpic, pleonanthic
Attribution: Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 12, July 2012. Glossary: http://www.mobot.org/mobot/research/apweb/top/glossaryi_p.html#perennial
Definition: Determined for type of life cycle being annual, binneal, perennial etc.
Comment: The life cycle habit indicates the typical duration of an individual plant's life. Common values are annual, biennial, and perennial. Some plants have different durations depending on environment or location, so a plant can have more than one value.
Definition: Of plant duration, a plant whose life span extends over more than two growing seasons, c.f. annual, biennial, ephemeral, of flowering with respect to architecture, hapaxanthic, monocarpic, pleonanthic
Attribution: Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 12, July 2012. Glossary: http://www.mobot.org/mobot/research/apweb/top/glossaryi_p.html#perennial
Definition: The minimum tolerable temperature is the lowest temperature recorded in the plant’s historical range. If this is not available, the record low January temperature recorded at climate stations within the current geographical range of the plant is used. This definition does not apply to summer annuals.
Attribution: USDA PLANTS database Characteristics Data Fields. http://plants.usda.gov/charinfo.html
Definition: The process in which nitrogen is taken from its relatively inert molecular form (N2) in the atmosphere and converted into nitrogen compounds useful for other chemical processes, such as ammonia, nitrate and nitrogen dioxide.
Definition: A terrestrial plant is a plant that grows on or in or from land. Other types of plants are aquatic (living in water), epiphytic (living on trees) and lithophytic (living in or on rocks)
Definition: Minimum tolerable rainfall (in inches), expressed as the average annual minimum precipitation that occurs 20% of the time (i.e., the probability of it being this dry in any given year is 20%) at the driest climate station within the known geographical range of the plant. geographical range of the plant. For cultivars, the geographical range is defined as the area to which the cultivar is well adapted rather than marginally adapted.
Comment: Minimum precipitation tolerance: Minimum tolerable rainfall, expressed as the average annual minimum precipitation that occurs 20% of the time (i.e., the probability of it being this dry in any given year is 20%) at the driest climate station within the known geographical range of the plant. Maximum precipitation tolerance: Maximum tolerable rainfall, expressed as the annual average precipitation of the wettest climate station within the known geographical range of the plant. For cultivars, the geographical range is defined as the area to which the cultivar is well adapted rather than marginally adapted.
Attribution: USDA PLANTS database Characteristics Data Fields. http://plants.usda.gov/charinfo.html
Definition: Minimum tolerable rainfall (in inches), expressed as the average annual minimum precipitation that occurs 20% of the time (i.e., the probability of it being this dry in any given year is 20%) at the driest climate station within the known geographical range of the plant. geographical range of the plant. For cultivars, the geographical range is defined as the area to which the cultivar is well adapted rather than marginally adapted.
Comment: Minimum precipitation tolerance: Minimum tolerable rainfall, expressed as the average annual minimum precipitation that occurs 20% of the time (i.e., the probability of it being this dry in any given year is 20%) at the driest climate station within the known geographical range of the plant. Maximum precipitation tolerance: Maximum tolerable rainfall, expressed as the annual average precipitation of the wettest climate station within the known geographical range of the plant. For cultivars, the geographical range is defined as the area to which the cultivar is well adapted rather than marginally adapted.
Attribution: USDA PLANTS database Characteristics Data Fields. http://plants.usda.gov/charinfo.html
Definition: A terrestrial plant is a plant that grows on or in or from land. Other types of plants are aquatic (living in water), epiphytic (living on trees) and lithophytic (living in or on rocks)
Definition: The soil pH, of the top 12 inches of soil, within the plant’s known geographical range. For cultivars, the geographical range is defined as the area to which the cultivar is well adapted rather than marginally adapted.
Attribution: USDA PLANTS database Characteristics Data Fields. http://plants.usda.gov/charinfo.html
Definition: The soil pH, of the top 12 inches of soil, within the plant’s known geographical range. For cultivars, the geographical range is defined as the area to which the cultivar is well adapted rather than marginally adapted.
Attribution: USDA PLANTS database Characteristics Data Fields. http://plants.usda.gov/charinfo.html
Definition: A group of species that exploit the same food resources, and/or use the same feeding or foraging methods. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guild_(ecology)
Definition: Five indicator statuses, or ratings, are used in the United States National Wetland Plant List to designate a plant species’ preference for occurrence in a wetland or upland: Upland (UPL), Facultative Upland (FACU), Facultative (FAC), Facultative Wetland (FACW), and Obligate Wetland (OBL). The statuses represent the estimated probability of a species occurring in wetlands versus nonwetlands in a region.
Attribution: Lichvar, R.W. 2013. The National Wetland Plant List: 2013 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2013-49: 1-241. http://rsgisias.crrel.usace.army.mil/NWPL/static/cfg/doc/pdl_2013_pub/National/NWPL_Phytoneuron_2013.pdf
Definition: Hydrophyte. Usually occur in wetlands, but may occur in non-wetlands.
Attribution: Lichvar, R.W. and Minkin, P. 2008. Concepts and procedures for updating the National Wetland Plant List. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory ERDC/CRREL TN-08-3, http://rsgisias.crrel.usace.army.mil/NWPL/static/cfg/doc/pdl_2013_pub/National/NWPL_Phytoneuron_2013.pdf
Definition: Five indicator statuses, or ratings, are used in the United States National Wetland Plant List to designate a plant species’ preference for occurrence in a wetland or upland: Upland (UPL), Facultative Upland (FACU), Facultative (FAC), Facultative Wetland (FACW), and Obligate Wetland (OBL). The statuses represent the estimated probability of a species occurring in wetlands versus nonwetlands in a region.
Attribution: Lichvar, R.W. 2013. The National Wetland Plant List: 2013 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2013-49: 1-241. http://rsgisias.crrel.usace.army.mil/NWPL/static/cfg/doc/pdl_2013_pub/National/NWPL_Phytoneuron_2013.pdf
Definition: Hydrophyte. Occur in wetlands and non-wetlands.
Attribution: Lichvar, R.W. and Minkin, P. 2008. Concepts and procedures for updating the National Wetland Plant List. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory ERDC/CRREL TN-08-3, http://rsgisias.crrel.usace.army.mil/NWPL/static/cfg/doc/pdl_2013_pub/National/NWPL_Phytoneuron_2013.pdf
Definition: Five indicator statuses, or ratings, are used in the United States National Wetland Plant List to designate a plant species’ preference for occurrence in a wetland or upland: Upland (UPL), Facultative Upland (FACU), Facultative (FAC), Facultative Wetland (FACW), and Obligate Wetland (OBL). The statuses represent the estimated probability of a species occurring in wetlands versus nonwetlands in a region.
Attribution: Lichvar, R.W. 2013. The National Wetland Plant List: 2013 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2013-49: 1-241. http://rsgisias.crrel.usace.army.mil/NWPL/static/cfg/doc/pdl_2013_pub/National/NWPL_Phytoneuron_2013.pdf
Definition: Hydrophyte. Usually occur in wetlands, but may occur in non-wetlands.
Attribution: Lichvar, R.W. and Minkin, P. 2008. Concepts and procedures for updating the National Wetland Plant List. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory ERDC/CRREL TN-08-3, http://rsgisias.crrel.usace.army.mil/NWPL/static/cfg/doc/pdl_2013_pub/National/NWPL_Phytoneuron_2013.pdf
Definition: Five indicator statuses, or ratings, are used in the United States National Wetland Plant List to designate a plant species’ preference for occurrence in a wetland or upland: Upland (UPL), Facultative Upland (FACU), Facultative (FAC), Facultative Wetland (FACW), and Obligate Wetland (OBL). The statuses represent the estimated probability of a species occurring in wetlands versus nonwetlands in a region.
Attribution: Lichvar, R.W. 2013. The National Wetland Plant List: 2013 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2013-49: 1-241. http://rsgisias.crrel.usace.army.mil/NWPL/static/cfg/doc/pdl_2013_pub/National/NWPL_Phytoneuron_2013.pdf
Definition: Hydrophyte. Occur in wetlands and non-wetlands.
Attribution: Lichvar, R.W. and Minkin, P. 2008. Concepts and procedures for updating the National Wetland Plant List. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory ERDC/CRREL TN-08-3, http://rsgisias.crrel.usace.army.mil/NWPL/static/cfg/doc/pdl_2013_pub/National/NWPL_Phytoneuron_2013.pdf
Definition: Five indicator statuses, or ratings, are used in the United States National Wetland Plant List to designate a plant species’ preference for occurrence in a wetland or upland: Upland (UPL), Facultative Upland (FACU), Facultative (FAC), Facultative Wetland (FACW), and Obligate Wetland (OBL). The statuses represent the estimated probability of a species occurring in wetlands versus nonwetlands in a region.
Attribution: Lichvar, R.W. 2013. The National Wetland Plant List: 2013 wetland ratings. Phytoneuron 2013-49: 1-241. http://rsgisias.crrel.usace.army.mil/NWPL/static/cfg/doc/pdl_2013_pub/National/NWPL_Phytoneuron_2013.pdf
Definition: Hydrophyte. Usually occur in wetlands, but may occur in non-wetlands.
Attribution: Lichvar, R.W. and Minkin, P. 2008. Concepts and procedures for updating the National Wetland Plant List. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Engineer Research and Development Center, Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory ERDC/CRREL TN-08-3, http://rsgisias.crrel.usace.army.mil/NWPL/static/cfg/doc/pdl_2013_pub/National/NWPL_Phytoneuron_2013.pdf
Definition: a plant that produces wood as its structural tissue. Wood is a structural cellular adaptation that allows woody plants to grow from above ground stems year after year, thus making some woody plants the largest and tallest terrestrial plants. Wood is primarily composed of xylem cells with cell walls made of cellulose and lignin