allelopathy
Oct. 2nd, 2018 07:43 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
prettygoodwordallelopathy (ah-lee-LOP-uh-thee) - n., the release, by a plant, of chemicals that inhibit the growth of other plants nearby.
For example, black walnut trees produce juglone, a chemical inhibiting plant respiration, preventing other plants from growing underneath them and so competing for water and nutrients. Allelopathic plants are studied for possible pesticidal uses. Coined in German in 1937 (and arrived in English about 20 years later) by Austrian professor Hans Molisch from Greek roots allēl-, one another + pathos, suffering/harm -- but the effect was long known, having been described in Greece in the 3rd century BCE and in China in the 1st century CE.
---L.
For example, black walnut trees produce juglone, a chemical inhibiting plant respiration, preventing other plants from growing underneath them and so competing for water and nutrients. Allelopathic plants are studied for possible pesticidal uses. Coined in German in 1937 (and arrived in English about 20 years later) by Austrian professor Hans Molisch from Greek roots allēl-, one another + pathos, suffering/harm -- but the effect was long known, having been described in Greece in the 3rd century BCE and in China in the 1st century CE.
---L.
