| 释义 |
‖ humus|ˈhjuːməs|
[L., = mould, ground, soil.]
Vegetable mould; the dark-brown or black substance resulting from the slow decomposition and oxidization of organic matter on or near the surface of the earth, which, with the products of the decomposition of various rocks, forms the soil in which plants grow.
1796H. Hunter tr. St.-Pierre's Stud. Nat. (1799) I. 474 That stratum called humus, which..serves as a basis to the vegetable kingdom. 1846J. Baxter Libr. Pract. Agric. (ed. 4) I. 15 It was usual, formerly, to attribute the carbon or charcoal of plants to their absorption of the humus existing in the ground. 1881Darwin Earthworms Introd. 5 Year after year the thrown-up castings cover the dead leaves, the result being a rich humus of great thickness.
b. attrib., as humus acid, humus soil.
1881Darwin Veg. Mould v. 242 The several humus-acids, which appear..to be generated within the bodies of worms during the digestive process. 1892Blackw. Mag. July 99 The species of Palaquium require a humus soil. |