superplants

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...
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
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
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
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
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

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