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Term for the state of a deciduous tree during winter?

English Language & Usage Asked on January 18, 2021

Normally I live in Australia where winters are quite mild. But right now I’ve been travelling in Asia and seeing all the trees which look dead but are not, due to it being winter, have got me thinking.

There must be a term for the state a tree is in that has lost all its leaves and resembles a dead tree but will “come back to life” next spring.

Like an equivalent of “hibernating”? Or “dormant”?

I don’t mind an everyday word or a technical word only botanists would know. I don’t care if it’s a single word or a multi-word term. Nouns and adjectives are both fine too.

2 Answers

Dormancy is a term that applies to some plants (including trees). From wikipedia:

Dormancy is a period in an organism's life cycle when growth, development, and (in animals) physical activity are temporarily stopped. ... For example, photoperiod and decreasing temperature are used by many plants to predict the onset of winter. ... Deciduous plants lose their leaves; evergreens curtail all new growth.

Trees without leaves often are referred to as bare. To some extent, the term vernal might apply.

Edit: Instead: To some extent, the term vernalized might apply, as used in its specialized sense that means having gone dormant due to exposure to cold, and being not yet devernalized.

Correct answer by James Waldby - jwpat7 on January 18, 2021

Like an equivalent of "hibernating"? Or "dormant"?

Deciduous trees are denudate in the winter (and winter is denudative). Denude can refer to normal seasonal leaf loss, or to abnormal leaf loss from defoliants, infestations or droughts.

denudate adjective
de·​nu·​date | ", -də̇t
Definition of denudate (Entry 2 of 2)
: DENUDED, BARE

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/denudate

Oddly, MW doesn't list denuded as an adjective, only a verb. But my sense is that denuded is at least as common an adjective as denudate.

Answered by Phil Sweet on January 18, 2021

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