Duramen

3 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Duramen \Du*ra"men\, n. [L., hardness, a hardened, i. e.,
     ligneous, vine branch, fr. durare to harden. See {Dure}.]
     (Bot.)
     The heartwood of an exogenous tree.
     [1913 Webster]



From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Heartwood \Heart"wood`\ (h[aum]rt"w[oo^]d`), n.
     The hard, central part of the trunk of a tree, consisting of
     the old and matured wood, and usually differing in color from
     the outer layers. It is technically known as {duramen}, and
     distinguished from the softer {sapwood} or {alburnum}.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  duramen
       n : the older inactive central wood of a tree or woody plant;
           usually darker and denser than the surrounding sapwood
           [syn: {heartwood}]