| Adanson, Michel | <person> French naturalist, 1727-1806. See: adansonian classification. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| adansonia | <botany> A genus of great trees related to the Bombax. There are two species, A. Digitata, the baobab or monkey-bread of Africa and India, and A. Gregorii, the sour gourd or cream-of-tartar tree of Australia. Both have a trunk of moderate height, but of enormous diameter, and a wide-spreading head. The fruit is oblong, and filled with pleasantly acid pulp. The wood is very soft, and the bark is used by the natives for making ropes and cloth. Origin: From Adanson, a French botanist. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| adansonian classification | The classification of organisms based on giving equal weight to every character of the organism; this principle has its greatest application in numerical taxonomy. Origin: M. Adanson (05 Mar 2000) |