Exotic Plants — Chambers's Encyclopaedia

Exotic Plants, or EXOTICS (Gr., 'coming from abroad'), cultivated plants originally derived from foreign countries. The term is most frequently applied to those of which the native country differs so much in soil or climate from that into which they have been conveyed that their cultivation is attended with difficulty, requiring artificial heat or other means different from those requisite in the case of indigenous plants. See GARDENING.