benthic barrier n. Where the watermilfoil is too dense for that approach (scientists have found as many as 300 stems per square meter), divers fasten huge sheets of plastic, called benthic barriers, to the lake bottom to blot out the sun.…“We have two locations we have been working with the benthic mats where we’ll return, and we’ll add four more locations.” [EnglishEnvironmentPlant-lifeJargon] [full cite] (Jun. 12, 2007)
Biltmore stick n. He wore a backpack with a G.P.S. receiver and carried, in one hand, a data collection unit resembling a portable credit card machine, and in the other, a strip of wood known as a Biltmore stick.…The Biltmore stick, for example, was developed around the middle of the 18th century to determine a tree trunk’s diameter. [EnglishEnvironmentPlant-lifeJargon] [full cite] (Apr. 7, 2008)
bokashi n. Bokashi buckets: bokashi is the Japanese word for fermented organic matter, and this system is unusual because it involves both cooked and uncooked kitchen waste. Read the instructions carefully to see what you can and can’t add. It requires two buckets made with a special plastic impregnated with effective microorganisms—friendly bacteria, essentially. These start the breakdown process and work to eliminate odour. [JapaneseEnvironmentPlant-life] [full cite] (Jul. 17, 2007)
broom v. The number of wolves in the refuge is increasing, and biologists are beginning to see browse that is “broomed,” a term used to describe willows that have been topped and are mushrooming, Aderman said. [EnglishPlant-life] [full cite] (Jun. 13, 2008)
brown-bag v. On the farm, brown-bagging is the practice of selling harvested, government-protected varieties of seed to other farmers for future planting at discount prices. On Wednesday, in an 8-1 victory for the nation’s seed industry, the Supreme Court sharply limited agricultural brown-bagging. [EnglishAgriculturePlant-life] [full cite] (Apr. 10, 2007)
brown-bagged v. They apparently were brown-bagging seed, selling it for just under the brand price and using it for propagation purposes.”…Hanshaw says others accused were selling brown-bagged wheat seed for $1 to $2 under the certified seed market price. [EnglishAgriculturePlant-life] [full cite] (Apr. 10, 2007)
brown-bagging v. “Brown-bag” sales—a reference to farmers’ rudimentary packaging—are prompting big seed companies to drop expensive research programs and thus give foreign competitors an advantage, the industry claims. Pioneer Hi-Bred International Inc. says that brown-bagging of its version of hard red winter wheat got so prevalent in grain-belt states that the company simply ceased doing research and dropped out of the market. [EnglishAgriculturePlant-life] [full cite] (Apr. 10, 2007)
buckhorning n. Your tree might be making a last stand, but let’s give it a little hope for survival.…When late winter arrives, consider a much more severe pruning, often called buckhorning. Use this pruning technique to take all the limbs back to major healthy portions several inches or more in diameter. What’s usually left is a bare frame of a tree often only 6 to 8 feet tall. [EnglishPlant-lifeJargon] [full cite] (Nov. 7, 2007)
burpless adj. Researchers in Australia have received funding to develop more digestible feeds for cattle—“burpless” grass, in industry parlance—that result in less methane being produced as they are broken down in cows’ stomach(s). [EnglishAgriculturePlant-lifeNew or Nonce] [full cite] (May. 19, 2008)
canoe plant n. The garden, which offers self-guided tours, is an ethnobotanical wonder of both native and “canoe plants,” brought from other islands by Polynesians. [EnglishPlant-life] [full cite] (Sep. 29, 2007)