Word To Use Today: phytosociology.

For those fed up with elaborately wordy theories about their lives concocted by People Who Know Best, I give you phytosociology.

Phytosociology is a sort of sociology, but it's rather different from the other sorts because it's the study of the origin, development, and inter-relationships of plant communities.


Sierra Madre. Photo by Perojevic

Mind you, I rather imagine that even in this case the plants know more about what they're doing than the phytosociologists.

Word To Use Today: phytosociology. Phuton is Greek for plant, from phuein, to make green. The Latin word socius means associate.

The word phytosociology was coined by the Polish phytosociologist Jósef Konrad Paczoski, 1864 - 1942, but the general idea was started by Humboldt. 

Or, come to think about it, countless generations of farmers and gardeners.