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(1) Endemic [ Ecology  ]
Adverb: Endemically
Noun: Endemicity
Noun: Endemism

Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

     
  The word endemic, in a broad sense, indicate belonging to, peculiar to, or prevalent in a particular region, race, field, or environment. Originating where it is found.  
     
For example: Cactaceae family is said to be endemic (or autochthonous) of Americas

See also: native, autochthonous, indigenous
(2) Endemic [ Biology - Ecology ]
     
  Endemic in biology and ecology indicate of  plant or animals exclusively native or confined  to a particular region, place or biota.  
     
Endemic is in contrast to any one of a number of words meaning "not native" (e.g., adventive, exotic, introduced, naturalized, non-native). On the other hand it is also differentiated from indigenous. A species that is endemic is exclusive to that place or region, found naturally nowhere else. A species that is indigenous is native, but not unique because it is also native to other places as well. 

Generally the word endemic implies a distinct geographical unit, like an island, a lake, a highland, a country or other defined or isolated area .
The restricted area where endemic species are found is often vulnerable to the depredations of man and introduced species mean that endemics all too easily can become extinct.
(3) Endemic [ Medicine - Epidemiology ]
     
  In medicine and epidemiology, an infection or disease is said to be "endemic" when constantly present to greater or lesser extent in a particular region.  
     

 


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Holdfast roots  [ Botany  ]

Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

 
     
  Some species of climbing plants develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place.  
     
Climbing plants, like the poison ivy (Toxicodendron radicans), Boston ivy (Parthenocissus tricuspidata), and trumpet creeper (Campsis radicans),  develop holdfast roots which help to support the vines on trees, walls, and rocks. By forcing their way into minute pores and crevices, they hold the plant firmly in place. Usually the Holdfast roots die at the end of the first season, but in some species they are perennial. In the tropics some of the large climbing plants have hold-fast roots by which they attach themselves, and long, cord-like roots that extend downward through the air and may lengthen and branch for several years until they strike the soil and become absorbent roots.

Major references and further lectures:
1) E. N. Transeau “General Botany” Discovery Publishing House, 1994
     

 

 

 

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