The Encyclopedia Americana (1920)/Plant

PLANT, in its most general sense, one of the vegetable order of organized things, possessed of life, but not of feeling; in more restricted and popular usage, any small herb, thus excluding the larger shrubs and trees. Originally the term denoted a short, cutting or sapling, as shown by its derivation from the Greek πλατύς, broad, Latin Planus, flat. In modern times the term has come to denote the buildings, machinery, fixtures, etc., necessary for the operation of an industry or business, and in a colloquial sense, also denotes a plot or swindle. In this work plants in the botanical sense are treated under Alpine Plants; Beach Plants; Plants, Breeding of; Plants, Classification of; Plants, Diseases of; Embryology of Plants; Fertilization in Plants; Plant Foods; Plant Geography; Plants, Malformations in; Plants, Migration of; Plants, Morphological Evolution of; Plants, Ornamental; Plants, Physiology of; Plants, Poisonous; Plants, Recapitulation in; Plants, Vascular Anatomy of. See also Agricultural Chemistry.