superplant

Noun

superplant (plural superplants)

1. (obsolete) A plant growing on another, such as the mistletoe; an epiphyte.
   • Experiments in consort touching the rudiments of plants ; and of the excrescences of plants , or superplants1627 (indicated as 1626), Francis [Bacon], “VI. Century.”, in Sylua Syluarum: Or A Naturall Historie. In Ten Centuries. […], London: […] William Rawley […]; [p]rinted by J[ohn] H[aviland] for William...
   • And they surely speak probably who make it an arboreous excrescence, or rather superplant, bred of a viscous and superfluous sap which the tree it self cannot assimilate.1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica or Enquiries into very many received tenents and commonly presumed truths
2. A plant that is particularly robust and which thrives in poor growing conditions or dominates an ecosystem.
   • A lot of your early field research was in the desert, and one plant that you studied was creosote, which you have called "the superplant of the desert."1996, The American Biology Teacher - Volume 58, Issues 1-8, page 284
   • Tamarisk's long seed viability allows it to flourish under such conditions where willows and cottonwoods cannot. It has proven to be a biological superplant.2000, James M. Aton, Robert S. McPherson, River Flowing from the Sunrise
3. A plant that is unusual in its ability to perform an especially useful function
   • The clean-air machine has a slot for coins, a panel called Hygiene Control, and its sides are made of some translucent substance, through which can be seen the fuzzy outline of a cluster of leaves, as of some superplant that produces pure life-giving air.2000, Paul Rutherford, Endless Propaganda: The Advertising of Public Goods, page 218
   • The florist's chrysanthemum (Chrysanthemum morifolium) (with the peace lily) was the most potent of the superplants tested by NASA. It filtered out all five of the common toxins mentioned here (trichloroethylene, formaldehyde, benzene, xylene, and ammonia).2018, Basmati, Garden Themes: inspiring garden collections & design ideas, page 62
4. A plant that can be eaten for particular health benefits or particularly high nutritional value; a superfood.
   • Parsley may look like a mild-mannered garnish, but inside lurks the nutrient content of a “superplant.”2005, Kymythy Schultze, The Natural Nutrition No-Cook Book
   • It is potentially a super-plant, with immune-stimulating, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, anti-tumour and anti-microbial properties.2010, Patrick Holford, Liz Efiong, Say No To Cancer
5. A plant that is created through unnatural means, such as genetic engineering, to be stronger than others.
   • An artist's fanciful conception of a superplant of the future produced through the processes of DNA technology.2000, I. Edward Alcamo, DNA Technology: The Awesome Skill, page 260
   • The propagation of these plants may very well be done by cloning because if a superplant is genetically engineered, the genetic integrity of the plant must be kept intact.2012, Ray V Herren, Introduction to Biotechnology, page 194
6. A manufacturing plant that is particularly large and efficient, especially one that combines functions normally handled in separate plants.
   • All new flue-cured processing plants built during the past 10 years have been of the superplant type, and the bulk of the processing capacity operated by domestic cigarette manufacturers is already of the superplant type.1969, United States. Department of Agriculture. Economic Research Service, Potential Mechanization in the Flue-cured Tobacco Industry, with Emphasis on Human Resource Adjustment, page 27
   • While the consensus definitely is that none of these problems are insurmountable a MHD system can evidently not immediately be incorporated into the power core of the proposed superplant.1980, American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Winter Annual Meeting
7. A type of prosthesis composed of a fixed saddle rigidly connected to one or more abutments, especially one with subperiosteal implants.
   • In a unilateral superplant, where there are two abutment teeth, often two teeth can be placed on the saddle without using an implant.1961, L. Izikowitz, “Report on Superplants”, in Journal of Implant Dentistry, volume 7, number 1, page 24
   • The superplant reduces the transversal movements of the root as compared with the single tooth in Figure 287, but the movably attached saddle increases the movements as compared with the single root.1964, Charles Goodliffe Darlington, George W. Wilson, The Year Book of Dentistry, page 458