nurse log

English

Noun

nurse log (plural nurse logs)

1. A fallen tree which, as it decays, provides ecological facilitation to seedlings.
   • 2018, Richard Powers, The Overstory, Vintage (2019), page 624:

     Already, seedlings root in the nurse logsʼ crevices, nourished by the rot.

Anagrams

• loungers, regulons