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PLANTS
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PLANTS. In the most generally used sense, a plant is a member of the lower or vegetable order of living organized things; the term is also popularly applied to the smaller herbaceous plants, thus excluding trees and shrubs. The early use of the word is for a twig, shoot, cutting or sapling, which was the meaning of Lat. planta (for plancta, the root being that seen in planes, flat, cf. Gr. irXaris, broad; planta thus meant a spreading shoot or sucker). Other meanings of " plant " are derived from the verb " to plant " (Lat. planlare, to fix in position or place). It is thus used of the fixtures, machinery, apparatus necessary for the carrying on of an industry or business, and in colloquial or slang use, of a swindle, a carefully arranged plot or trap laid or fixed to deceive; cf. also PLANTATION. In the following sections the botanical sense of the word is followed, the term being used generally as opposed to " animals."