-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.
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