A grove is a small group of
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
s with minimal or no undergrowth, such as a
sequoia grove, or a small
orchard
An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of ...
planted for the
cultivation of
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in partic ...
s or
nuts. Other words for groups of trees include ''
woodland
A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with trees, or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunlight and limited shade (see ...
'', ''
woodlot'', ''
thicket'', and ''
stand''.
The main meaning of "
grove" is a group of trees that grow close together, generally without many bushes or other plants underneath. It is an old word in the English language, with records of its use dating as far back as the late 9th century. The word's true origins are unknown; the word, or a related root, cannot be found in any other Germanic language.
Naturally-occurring groves are typically small, perhaps a few acres at most.In contrast,
orchard
An orchard is an intentional plantation of trees or shrubs that is maintained for food production. Orchards comprise fruit- or nut-producing trees which are generally grown for commercial production. Orchards are also sometimes a feature of ...
s, which are normally intentional planting of trees, may be small or very large, like the apple orchards in
Washington state
Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a U.S. state, state in the Northwestern United States, Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first President of the United States, U.S. p ...
, and orange groves in
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and ...
.
Historically, groves were considered sacred in pagan, pre-Christian
Germanic and
Celtic cultures. Helen F. Leslie-Jacobsen argues that "we can assume that sacred groves actually existed due to repeated mentions in historiographical and ethnographical accounts. e.g.
Tacitus
Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars.
The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...
, ''
Germania''."
Helen F. Leslie Jacobsen, "The Sacred Grove in Scandinavian/Germanic Pre-Christian Religion", University of Bergen
Retrieved 29 June 2015
See also
* Brush arbour revival
* Bosquet is an artificial grove in a French formal garden
The French formal garden, also called the (), is a style of garden based on symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. Its epitome is generally considered to be the Gardens of Versailles designed during the 17th century by the ...
* List of giant sequoia groves
* The National Grove of State Trees at the United States National Arboretum
* Sacred grove
Sacred groves or sacred woods are groves of trees and have special religious importance within a particular culture. Sacred groves feature in various cultures throughout the world. They were important features of the mythological landscape and ...
* Sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology
References
Further reading
*
Trees
Sacred groves
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