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crown-of-thorns

   Also found in: Medical, Acronyms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia 0.02 sec.
crown-of-thorns (krounv-thôrnz)
n.
1. A trailing or climbing spiny shrub (Euphorbia milii) native to Madagascar and cultivated as a houseplant, having showy flower clusters with usually red, petallike bracts.
2. The Christ's thorn.
crown-of-thorns
n
1. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Animals) a starfish, Acanthaster planci, that has a spiny test and feeds on living coral in coral reefs
2. (Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Plants) Also called Christ's thorn a thorny euphorbiaceous Madagascan shrub, Euphorbia milii var. splendens, cultivated as a hedging shrub or pot plant, having flowers with scarlet bracts
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They tracked populations of coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish and found that even low-intensity fishing of the starfish's predators enabled it to multiply significantly and destroy the reef.
A coral-ation by Knight, Sara / Earth Island Journal
Crown-of-thorns no Johnny-come-lately The crown-of-thorns starfish made a big splash in the mid-1960s--and another in the early 1980s--when unusually large numbers of the species devastated live coral on Australia's Great Barrier Reef.
Crown-of-thorns no Johnny-come-lately by Hart, S. / Science News
 
 
 
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