Miconia

1 9.9

Tropical shrubs and trees with large leaves that sometimes spread and harm native plants

proper noun

Specialized

: miconia

For example, the tree Miconia calvescens replaced the forest canopy on more than 70 percent of the island of Tahiti over a 50-year time span, starting with a few trees in two botanical gardens.

Examples

On Santa Cruz Island, a volcanic crater lush with evergreen Miconia shrubs provided the perfect test habitat.
This trail ran through a highland thick with native Miconia bushes until the 1990s.

Academic text (2009)
For example, the tree Miconia calvescens replaced the forest canopy on more than 70 percent of the island of Tahiti over a 50-year time span, starting with a few trees in two botanical gardens.
Now, dense stands of Miconia calvescens have spread over the hillsides to overtake 70 percent of the country, according to the IUCN.

Surface Forms

Miconia main

Etymology

Miconia is a scientific name for a group of tropical shrubs and trees and it looks like a person's name, so a helpful way to remember it is to think of it as 'Micon's plants' because many plant groups were named for people. That's why Miconia refers to a whole group of tropical plants, some of which can spread quickly and harm local nature.