Phreatophyte


Also found in: Dictionary, Wikipedia.

phreatophyte

[frē′ad·ə‚fīt]
(ecology)
A plant with a deep root system which obtains water from the groundwater or the capillary fringe above the water table.

Phreatophyte

 

a plant with an extremely deep root system that uses groundwater as its source of moisture. A classical example is the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera), which grows on oases in the Sahara and the Arabian Peninsula. (An ancient Arabic proverb says that the date palm has its head in fire and its feet in water.) Phreatophytes occur in the subtropical eucalyptus forests on the eastern coast of Australia. They serve as indicators of the depth and salinity of the groundwater. For example, the licorice (Glycyrrhiza glabra) is an indicator of fresh water at depths of 5 to 10 m, and Halostachys caspica indicates salt water at depths of 5 to 15 m. Typical phreatophytes include many desert and semidesert plants, for example, camelthorn (Alhagi camelorum), tamarisk (Tamarix), and Achnatherum.

Mentioned in ?
References in periodicals archive ?
0 maf, and phreatophyte and operational efficiency losses of roughly 0.
Equity and the Colorado River compact
Management of phreatophyte and riparian vegetation for maximum multiple use values.
Remote mapping of saltcedar in the Rio Grande system of west Texas
Thus, the species may serve as a model organism for herbaceous riparian phreatophytes.
Effects of soil temperature and depth to ground water on first-year growth of a dryland riparian phreatophyte, Glycyrrhiza lepidota (American licorice)
Ash Meadows NWR represents an area that supports phreatophytes, as well as facultative and obligate wetland vegetation, that serve as indicators of surface and groundwater resources.
Distribution and recovery of vegetational assemblages in Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada
provided that removal of phreatophytes was not a way to increase a water
eradication of phreatophytes or hydrophytes" as an acceptable
to the phreatophytes may be brought under reasonable control.
Reforming a western institution: how expanding the productivity of water rights could lessen our water woes
Water use by Tamarix ramosissima and associated phreatophytes in a Mojave Desert floodplain.
Trends in abundance of hibernating bats in a karst region of the southern Great Plains

Encyclopedia browser ?
Full browser ?