planta-, plant-

1. Any of various small, soft-bodied insects of the family Aphididae that have mouth parts especially adapted for piercing and feeding by pulling the sap from vegetation: "Aphids suck the sap from the stems and leaves of various plants and they develop wings; especially, when there are too many of them in the area."

"Plant lice are big pests of many fruit trees and vegetable crops."

1. Plants that grow partly or wholly in water whether rooted in the mud, as a lotus, or floating without anchorage; such as, the water hyacinth; also known as: water plants, hydrophytes, hydrophytic plants.
2. A species of plant that has adapted to living in or on aquatic environments.

A reference to the toes and the soles of the feet: "One night during a windstorm, the man got up in his bare feet to see what the noise was and he discovered, too late, that his digitoplantars were cut by the pieces of glass from the broken window on the floor which was caused by a tree that was blown against side of his house."

A power producer that converts raw energy into electricity: "The electric power plant is a hydrosteam, diesel, or nuclear generating electrical station for stationary or transportation services."

A major division of botany, concerned with all aspects of the spatial distribution of vegetation: "Geographical botany, plant geography, and phytogeography all involve the study of the spatial distributions of plants and vegetation and of the environmental relationships which may influence these distributions."

"Vegetational plant geography has emphasized the mapping of vegetation regions and the interpretation of the terms of environmental (ecological) influences."

"Phytogeographical and zoogeographical areas do not necessarily together, because there are barriers and factors that affect the growth and distribution which are often different for plants and animals."

An industrial heat-producing manufacturer in which the prime mover is a steam turbine: "Geothermal plants are driven either by steam produced from hot water or by natural steam that derives its energy from heat found in rock formations of the earth."

Referring to the middle of the soles of the feet: "The doctor treated the medioplantars of the young patient who accidentally ran bare footed on a cactus plant in his back yard while he was running away from his sister."

1. Living organisms; such as, shrubs, trees, herbs, grass, ferns, and mosses: "Plants normally grow and remain in the same places where they absorb water and inorganic substances through their roots, and synthesize nutrients in their leaves by photosynthesis (light as an energy source) by using the green pigment chlorophyll."

"Plants are also different from animals by generally responding to external stimuli very slowly and the responses often take a matter of days and only occur when the stimuli are continued for a long periods of time."

"Plants are necessary for the continuation of life on Earth and they are an essential part of the food chain, supplying energy and oxygen for the higher, more complex forms of life."

"Not all of the plants produce their nutrition by photosynthesis because some are parasites on other plants, and a few of them are carnivorous in that they specialize in capturing and digesting insects."

2. Vegetation that covers the earth and determines the appearances of the landscapes: "There are divisions that are caused by the tendency of certain communities of plants to be unified in groups."

"Of all of the factors that affect land plants, the most important is water, the abundance and availability of which is again influenced by the structure of the soil."

"Plants store food in the form of starch; and their cell walls are made mostly of cellulose."

"Although plants can't run away, some of them can defend themselves by secreting bitter substances which give off an unpleasant taste to their leaves and fruit; others defend themselves with acids and poisons, with nauseating milky fluids, that have stinging hairs, prickles, thorns, and crystal needles."

"Scientists have estimated that there are 400,000 species of plants, with Columbia, Equador, and Peru having more plant species than any other countries in the world." 3. Etymology: from Old English plante, "young tree or shrub, herb newly planted"; from Latin planta, "sprout, shoot, cutting"; perhaps originally from plantare, "to drive in with the feet, to push into the ground with the feet"; from planta, "sole of the foot".
4. By extension, there are several other applications of the terms plant and plants:

• A place where industrial or manufacturing processes take place; including, machinery used in those plants.
• A person who has been placed in a group as a spy, informer, or plant by another organization.
• Something that has been put among the belongings of people in order to incriminate or to compromise them; the couple insisted that the bag of illegal drugs which was found on the floor behind the front seat of their car was a plant.

A complex carbohydrate that forms the tough carbon latticework of cell walls in most vegetation and is important in the manufacture of numerous products; such as, paper, textiles, pharmaceuticals, and even explosives: "Plant cellulose is indigestible to humans and serves as the plants' armor against predatory pests."

"Research in biofuels is striving to refine plant cellulose in the form of corn husks instead of corn kernels, bagasse (dry dusty pulp that remains after juice is extracted from sugar cane) instead of cane sugar, and agricultural and industrial wastes of all kinds; such as, wood chips, the remains of paper mills, and fallen tree leaves."

"Many creatures, including termites and cattle, use gut microbes to break down plant cellulose in their digestive systems where microbes do it by secreting enzymes called cellulases."

Any textile fiber that is produced by or derived from vegetation: "Examples of plant fibers include cotton, flax, and hemp."

A particular area in botanical science that is concerned with the diseases of vegetation: "Plant pathology involves research about microbes and the environmental factors that can cause diseases in plants, the factors and processes involved in the development of diseases, and the methods of preventing and controlling plant diseases."

That branch of botanical sciences that strives to understand how vegetaion lives and functions: "The primary objective of plant physiology is to explain the life processes of plants with a limited number of comprehensive principles that exist in chemistry, physics, and mathematics."

In agreement with the major characteristics of organisms plant physiology is usually divided into:

• The nutrition and metabolism of plants that deals with the uptake, transformations, and release of materials, and also their movements within and between the cells and organs of the plant.
• The environment of plants which strives to understand the various responses of plants to the environment.
• The part of the environment that deals with the effects of and adaptations to adverse conditions is called stress physiology.

1. To put seeds, plants, bulbs, etc. in the earth so they can develop into fully developed vegetation: "Every spring, the family plants seeds and plants that can grow into edible food."
2. To place seeds or undeveloped foliage in soil to produce crops: "Farmers around the world are planting various kinds of food products so the rest of the world can be nourished and live better."
3. Extended meanings of the term "to plant" include the following:

• To establish an idea, etc. a person's mind; such as, the politician planted more seeds of doubt about his political opposition.
• To secretly place a bomb that is set to go off later.
• To place or to hide something among people's possessions in order to suggest that they are guilty of a crime; for example, to plant stolen goods in their cars or homes to obtain money as a bribe not to tell the police.
• To send someone to join a group or an organization to act as a spy or an informer.

The bottom of the foot, most of which is in contact with the ground when standing: "Plantae pedis are covered with hairless, usually nonpigmented skin that is especially thickened and which has skin ridges over the weight-bearing areas."

A painful condition of the soles of the feet: "Wearing shoes to the party that were much too tight caused plantalgias for the woman."