Avicennia marina
- noun
- Specialized
- The coastal wetlands are dominated by Avicennia marina, which provide important habitat for fish and birds.
Examples
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Scientists study Avicennia marina to understand how mangroves adapt to saltwater environments.
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Dense thickets of Avicennia marina help protect shorelines from erosion.
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The Avicennia marina thrives in salty coastal waters.
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Have you seen the Avicennia marina in the wetlands?
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Dense thickets of Avicennia marina help protect shorelines from erosion.
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The coastal wetlands are dominated by Avicennia marina, which provide important habitat for fish and birds.
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Scientists study Avicennia marina to understand how mangroves adapt to saltwater environments.
Synonyms
A tropical tree with dark bark and roots that stick up from mud by the sea
Small tropical mangrove trees that grow on coasts where the sea rises and falls
Surface Forms
Morphology
Avicennia + marina
This is a taxonomic binomial formed from the genus Avicennia (a group of tidal trees) and the epithet marina (literally ‘of the sea’/‘marine’), so a learner who knows both constituents can infer it denotes a sea- or coast-associated Avicennia (a mangrove species). While the term is specialized scientific vocabulary, its meaning is transparently compositional and aided by cross-linguistic cognates like 'marine'.
Etymology
Avicennia marina was probably named with Avicennia after the Persian doctor Avicenna and marina a Latin word meaning 'of the sea'. That's why the name fits this mangrove tree that lives in salty coastal areas and helps protect the shore.