hygrophilousadj.
/hʌɪˈɡrɒfɪləs/ Ecology.
Of plants: growing in a moist environment.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by habitat or distribution > [adjective] > that thrives or does not thrive in moisture
fenny1543
plashy1822
inundatal1847
paludal1847
hygrophilous1863
uliginal1863
xerophilous1863
uliginose1866
xerophil1884
ombrophilous1895
ombrophobic1895
ombrophobous1895
xerophytic1897
sclerophyllous1903
xeromorphic1909
hydrarch1913
xerarch1913
ombrophile1924
sclerophyll1926
hygrophytic1936
xerophilic1961
1863 J. G. Baker N. Yorks. Stud. 189 Characteristically hygrophilous plants in the floras of the drainage districts.
1883 F. Townsend Flora Hampshire 497 Hygrophilous or moisture-loving plants thrive on eugeogenous soils.
1903 W. R. Fisher tr. A. F. W. Schimper Plant-geogr. i. iii. 260 The Rain-forest is evergreen, hygrophilous in character, at least thirty meters high.
1914 M. Drummond tr. G. Haberlandt Physiol. Plant Anat. viii. 439 The degree of development of this tissue..at once shows whether any given plant is distinctly hygrophilous or xerophilous in character.
1934 H. Gilbert-Carter tr. C. Raunkiaer Life Forms of Plants viii. 321 More or less hygrophilous communities are succeeded by mesophilous woods of oak and beech.
1957 P. Dansereau Biogeogr. iv. 206 Hygrophilous plants are ‘moisture-loving’.
Derivatives
ˈhygrophile n. a plant of this type.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > by habitat or distribution > [noun] > that likes moisture or marsh plant
paludal1847
bog-plant1854
hygrophile1878
hygrophyte1903
helophyte1909
hydrosere1926
1878 A. Henfrey Elem. Bot. (ed. 3) iv. i. 661 Plants are divided into Xerophiles, or those capable of existing in very dry climates; Hygrophiles, or those which can only exist in the presence of abundant moisture.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1976; most recently modified version published online June 2018).
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adj.1863