# Word for the day  Glade (geography)



## Josiah (Jan 23, 2015)

In the most general sense, a *glade* or *clearing* is an open area within a woodland. Glades are often grassy meadows under the canopy of deciduous trees such as red alder or quaking aspen in western North America. They also represent openings in forests where local conditions such as avalanches, poor soils, or fire damage have created semi-permanent clearings. They are very important to herbivorous animals, such as deer and elk, for forage and denning activities.
Sometimes the word is used in a looser sense, as in the treeless wetlands of the Everglades.
In the central United States, the term glade is used more specifically to describe rocky, prairie-like habitats that occur in areas of shallow soil. Glades are characterized by unique plant and animal communities that are adapted to harsh and dry conditions.[SUP][1][/SUP]


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## Meanderer (Jan 23, 2015)

Glad you chose Glade!


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## oakapple (Jan 23, 2015)

Glade is only used in poetry nowadays [a mossy glade etc] but it's a pretty word.


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## Vivjen (Jan 23, 2015)

Unless it is used as a branded air-freshener!


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## Josiah (Jan 23, 2015)

oakapple said:


> Glade is only used in poetry nowadays [a mossy glade etc] but it's a pretty word.



The term is still used by geographers and botanist. On my land in the Ozarks a had two glades and one had a very rare form of plant life which a couple of botanists was carefully documented in a number of papers and they referred to the location as a glade.


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## Vivjen (Jan 23, 2015)

I think a glade is much smaller over here....


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