vernalization
VER-nul-ih-ZAY-shun
The process by which a plant requires a prolonged period of cold before it can flower or germinate. The plant must experience winter in order to know that spring has come. Without the cold, the biological clock doesn't start. Vernalization is the body's memory of seasons — proof that winter is not just endured but needed.
Etymology
From Latin vernalis, of the spring, from ver, spring. The word names the cold that makes spring possible.
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