Age

(1) Age [ Biology ]
Synonym: Length of life.

Dictionary of botanic terminology - index of names

The length of an organism existence extending from the beginning or birth to any given time. <a plant 10 years of age>

Age of plants: Plants too are mortal creatures and have finished life duration, but it is usually difficult to tell the age of a plant whit precision as it depends on complex genetics and environmental factors. These conditions can often be altered so that the plant can be induced to undergo an early (or tardy) development. For example e plant can reach a life stage only when genetic factors ( including photoperiod ) and environmental conditions (water availability, etc..) are congenial. Plants grown under more or less favourable condition can attain a given life stage or size in a variable time.
Only the age of some plants can be visualized as a clock that measures the "age" by counting the number of some specific characteristic, for examples in a tree it is possible to count the annul ring in a trunk section, in some succulent it is possible to count the annual narrowing formed in the stem.

(2) Age [ Biology ]
Synonym: Stage of life.

A life stage (usually defined in years) at which some particular quality or feature develops < The age of maturity, the fruiting age, etc. >

Usually the development of an individual's to a given stage is measured in terms of the years requisite for like development of an average individual an individual's development measured in terms of the years requisite for like development of an average individual

(3) Age [ Biology - Geology ]


	*A unit of geological and biological time which is distinguished by some feature.*

An age is shorter than epoch, usually lasting from a few millions of years to about a hundred million years. (also Era, epoch, period, time) In geology an age is the formal unit of lowest rank, below epoch, during which the rocks of the corresponding stage were formed or during which a particular geologic event or series of events occurred or was marked by special physical conditions; e.g. the "Ice Age." In biology an age is a division of time of unspecified duration in the history of the Earth, characterized by a dominant or important type of life form. For example the "age of mammals", “age of reptiles” It is often expressed in years before present.

(4) To age [ Transitive and Intransitive verb]
(aged - aging or ageing)


Intransitive verb
	a : To become old : begin to seem older, show the effects or the characteristics of increasing age b:To acquire a desirable quality (as ripeness) by standing undisturbed for some time <letting fruit age>
Transitive verb
	To cause to become old

Advertising

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