terrarium

/teuh rair"ee euhm/, n., pl. terrariums, terraria /-rair"ee euh/.

1. a vivarium for land animals (distinguished from aquarium).

2. a glass container, chiefly or wholly enclosed, for growing and displaying plants.

[1885-90; TERR(A) + -ARIUM]

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▪ horticulture

also called  Glass Garden, Wardian Case, or Vivarium,  

      enclosure with glass sides, and sometimes a glass top, arranged for keeping plants or terrestrial or semi-terrestrial animals indoors. The purpose may be decoration, scientific observation, or plant or animal propagation.

      Plants commonly grown in terraria at cool temperatures include mosses, lichens, bloodroot, wood ferns, violets, trailing arbutus, and anemones. In warmer temperatures various begonias, croton, peperomia, creeping fig, selaginella, Dracaena sanderiana, Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema), maidenhair fern, and other tropical plants are commonly grown. The bottom layer in the plant terrarium usually consists of sand or large pebbles mixed with a small amount of charcoal; above it is a layer of topsoil 2–3 centimetres (about 1 inch) thick.

      The animals most often kept in terraria are turtles, of which Pseudemys scripta elegans, the red-eared turtle, is probably the most popular. Compare aquarium.

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