-colous

Also ‑coline and ‑cole.

Living in or preferring a given environment.

Latin colere, inhabit.

A plant or animal that is saxicolous (Latin saxum, rock) lives or grows among rocks; a terricolous plant or animal grows or lives on the ground or soil (Latin terra, earth); a calcicolous plant is one that grows best in calcareous soil. The ending ‑coline is an occasional variant of ‑colous, as in saxicoline. Words in ‑cole indicate a plant or animal of the given type: calcicole, terricole.