PINELANDS PLANTS GLOSSARY
acidic
soil or water that has a pH of less than 7 and a high concentration
of hydrogen ions (The sandy soil of the Pinelands is very acidic.)
adaptation
a change in structure, function, or form that better prepares an animal
or plant to survive in its environment- (Because of their unique adaptations,
the dwarf pitch pines and scrub oaks of the Plains are rarely destroyed
by wildfire.)
algae
a one-celled plant that grows in groups in water (The algae clogged
the stream.)
aquifer
a layer of sand and gravel beneath the earth's surface that has pore
spaces saturated with water (The Cohansey aquifer is the major Pinelands
aquifer.)
basal crook
the hook-shaped part of a root located near the earth's surface that
puts forth sprouts (When the forester returned to the burned area two
weeks after the fire, he found many sprouts growing from basal crooks.)
bog
a wet level area with spongy soil in which the water table is at or
very near the earth's surface; bogs are acidic and nutrient poor (Cranberries
grow well in a bog.)
cambium
a tree's or shrub's cell layer that provides the base for growth of
woody tissue and bark (Because the fire severely damaged the cambium
of the oaks, it was feared they would die.)
canopy
the tallest layer of plants in an area (Trees usually form the canopy
layer.)
carnivorous plants (or insectivorous plants)
insect-eating (Sundews are carnivorous plants.)
cellophane
a thin transparent material made from wood pulp (The blueberries were
covered with cellophane.)
Cohansey geologic formation
soils in the New Jersey Pinelands that are mostly medium to coarse
grained sands, although some thin clay soil layers are present (The
soils of the Cohansey geologic formation are very porous.)
contaminate
to make impure by contact or mixture (Salt in drinking water will contaminate
it.)
conveyor belt
a wide moving belt which carries objects from one place to another
(The conveyor belt lifted the cranberries from the bog to the truck.)
Cretaceous
a period of geologic time at the end of the Mesozoic era (The Cretaceous
period began over 100 million years ago.)
crown
the upper portion of a tree including the branches and leaves (The
Red- tailed Hawk perched on a branch at the crown of the pitch pine.)
cultivate
to encourage or promote growth (Elizabeth White was the first person
to cultivate the blueberry.)
culture
the growing of plants especially to improve the stock or quality (High
bush blueberry was used in the culture of blueberries.)
deposited
something such as rocks or sand that is placed or laid down in a certain
location (The force of the ocean's waves deposited sand on the beach.)
descendant
an immediate or distant member of a family (The descendants of J.J.White
still operate Whitesbog.)
deciduous
a plant that loses Its leaves in the autumn (When we came to school
one October morning, we found out that the deciduous maple tree in the
yard had dropped many of its leaves.)
dominant
the most important species occurring most often in an area (Low bush
blueberry was the dominant shrub.)
dormant
alive but inactive; not growing (The dormant buds of the clammy azalea
began to expand and open in the warm May sunshine.)
ecologist
one who studies the relationship of living things to their environment
(The plant ecologist did not want the habitat destroyed.)
enzyme
a substance made by living cells that causes some particular chemical
change to happen without itself being destroyed (The insect was dissolved
by the enzyme.)
glacier
a huge mass of moving ice originating from snow (The melting glacier
deposited gravel.)
glands
a cell, or group of cells, that makes and gives off a liquid substance
(The glands of the pitcher plants secrete enzymes.)
gravel
an unconsolidated mixture of rock fragments or pebbles (Most of the
highest hills in the Pinelands are composed of gravel.)
habitat
a place where an organism lives (The wetlands provides habitats for
80% of the Pinelands rare plants and animals.)
herbaceous
a plant with no woody parts; short lived and low growing (Turkeybeard
is an herbaceous plant of the New Jersey Pinelands.)
leaching
the downward movement through the soil of nutrients and chemicals that
are dissolved in water (Leaching occurs rapidly in the coarse, sandy
soil of the Pinelands.)
microorganisms
any simple organism, microscopic as an adult (Microorganisms aid in
the decay of plant and animal material.)
minerals
a naturally occurring inorganic substance such as calcium, nitrogen,
phosphorous, etc. (Pinelands soils are low in minerals.)
mucilage
glue-like organic compounds of vegetable origin and complex structure
(The insect was trapped in the sundew's mucilage.)
nectar
sweet substance produced by plants to attract insects (The top of the
pitcher plant leaf contains many nectar glands.)
nitrate
chemicals containing nitrogen, potassium, or sodium nitrate found in
fertilizers (The plant fertilizer contained potassium nitrate.)
nitrogen
a nonmetallic element occurring in various minerals and in all proteins
(Carnivorous plants get nitrogen from the insects they eat.)
nutrient
elements like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium that nourish or feed
a plant or animal and, therefore, help it to grow (The Pinelands soil
is low in nutrients.)
plains
upland pine-oak -forests where mature trees seldom grow taller than
the height of a man; an area of frequent fires. Also called the pygmy
forest. (Hudsonia grows well in the plains.)
porous
full of pores, or tiny holes, through which fluids, air, or light
may pass (The Cohansey sand is very porous.)
root crown
the point at or just below the earth's surface where a trunk and root
join. Sprouting often occurs from this point after a fire (The forest
fire was so devastating that even the root crowns of pitch pine did
not put forth new sprouts.)
seedlings
a ground plant just developed from a seed (Pitch pine seedlings are
susceptible to fire damage because they have not yet developed thick
protective bark.)
septic system
the plumbing system which takes wastewater from a house to a tank (Most
houses in the Pinelands have a septic system.)
serotinous
a pine cone that is opened by intense heat and, in so doing, releases
its seeds (The forest fire's intense heat opened the pitch pine's serotinous
cones.)
shrub
a plant with woody stems. Shows annual increase in girth. Shorter than
most trees (Mountain laurel is a shrub.)
species
a single kind of plant or animal (Only one species of pitcher plant
grows in the Pinelands.)
Sphagnum moss
a genus of moss which forms peat upon decomposition (The orchids were
growing in Sphagnum moss.)
sprouting
sending out new growth (Sprouting is probably the pitch pine's most
most important adaptation to fire.)
stolon
underground stems of the Utricularia genus (The bladderworts have modified
leaves for trapping insects which grow from stolons.)
tap root
a plant's or tree's main root that grows straight down from its stem
or trunk and is usually thicker than the lateral roots (Pitch pine trees
have very large tap roots.)
tentacle
one of the hairs on the leaves of insectivorous plants (The tentacles
of the sundew closed around the ant.)
topography
the height and slope of the land's surface (Overall the topography
of the Pinelands is generally flat.)
topsoil
Horizon A; the soil on the earth's surface containing relatively large
amounts of organic matter and plant nutrients (Most of a plant's roots
are found in the topsoil.)
tree
a plant with a woody bark and stems. Shows annual increase in girth.
Part of the canopy layer of a forest. (The dominant tree in the Pinelands
is the pitch pine.)
unique
quite different or one of a kind (Many unique plants grow in New Jersey's
Pinelands.)
upland
high land or land well above sea level generally with a low water table
(In New Jersey's Pinelands, upland is often no more than 150 feet above
sea level.)
vacuum
a space empty of matter (As the water is withdrawn from the bladder
sacs, a partial vacuum is created.)
vegetation
the plants of an area or region (The vegetation of the Pinelands is
unique.)
water table
the level below the earth's surface where the soil is saturated (I
dug a hole five feet deep before I reached the water table.)
wetland
low land that is mostly swampy due to the fact that the water table
is at or near the surface (Wetland is often near a stream or lake.)
|