Grove (nature)

A grove is a small group of trees with minimal or no undergrowth, such as a sequoia grove, or a small orchard planted for the cultivation of fruits or nuts. Other words for groups of trees include woodland, woodlot, thicket, and stand. A grove may be called an 'arbour' or 'arbor' (see spelling differences), which is not to be confused with the garden structure pergola, which also sometimes goes under that name.

A grove near Radziejowice, Poland.

Name

Palm grove at Orihuela, Spain

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 as Old English grāf, grāfa ('grove; copse') and subsequently Middle English grove, grave; these derive from Proto-West Germanic *graib, *graibō ('branch, group of branches, thicket'), from Proto-Germanic *graibaz, *graibô ('branch, fork').

It is related to Old English grǣf, grǣfe ('brushwood; thicket; copse'), Old English grǣfa ('thicket'), dialectal Norwegian greive ('ram with splayed horns'), dialectal Norwegian greivlar ('ramifications of an antler'), dialectal Norwegian grivla ('to branch, branch out'), Old Norse grein ('twig, branch, limb'), and cognate with modern English greave.

Cultivation

Naturally-occurring groves are typically small, perhaps a few acres at most. In contrast, orchards, which are normally intentional planting of trees, may be small or very large, like the apple orchards in Washington state, and orange groves in Florida.

Cultural significance

A mango grove in Muñoz, Nueva Ecija, Philippines.

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, Germania."

See also

• Brush arbour revival – Type of religious meeting
• Bosquet – formal plantation of trees, in a formal gardenPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
• List of giant sequoia groves
• National Grove of State Trees – national arboretum and research institution in Washington, D.C., USPages displaying wikidata descriptions as a fallback
• Sacred grove – Grove of trees of special religious importance to a particular culture
• Sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology

Further reading

• "Start Now to Design Citrus Groves for Mechanical Harvesting". University of Florida, Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. Retrieved 2006-01-06.