Ombrophobe Explained

Ombrophobe or ombrophobous/ombrophobic plant (from Greek ὄμβρος - ombros, "storm of rain"[1] and φόβος - phobos, "fear"[2]) is a plant that cannot withstand much rain. A similar term are xerophile and xerophyte.

Ombrophile or ombrophilous/ombrophilic plant is a plant that thrives in abundant amounts of rain.

The terms were introduced by the 19th-century botanist Julius Wiesner, who identified the two extreme kinds of plants, ombrophobes and ombrophiles. Xerophytes are usually ombrophobous.[3]

Notes and References

  1. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Do%29%2Fmbros1 ὄμβρος
  2. https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dfo%2Fbos φόβος
  3. Eugenius Warming, Oecology of Plants; An Introduction to the Study of Plant-Communities