pappus
a downy, bristly, or other tuftlike appendage of the achene of certain plants, as the dandelion and the thistle.
Origin of pappus
1Words Nearby pappus
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use pappus in a sentence
pappus pilosus, denticulato scaber, pluriserialis, radiolis exterioribus brevioribus.
I do not think that I made enough about the great power of absorption of water by the corolla-like calyx or pappus.
More Letters of Charles Darwin Volume II | Charles DarwinMoreover, the hairs of the pappus which crowns the seed are four times longer, and unequal instead of being equal.
Origin of Cultivated Plants | Alphonse De CandolleIn both species the achenes of the ray have no pappus, but those of the disc have a pappus of stiff hairs in several rows.
Field and Woodland Plants | William S. FurneauxThe fruit is brown, curved, with transverse ridges and a stalked pappus of feathery hairs.
Field and Woodland Plants | William S. Furneaux
British Dictionary definitions for pappus
/ (ˈpæpəs) /
a ring of fine feathery hairs surrounding the fruit in composite plants, such as the thistle; aids dispersal of the fruits by the wind
Origin of pappus
1Derived forms of pappus
- pappose or pappous, adjective
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Scientific definitions for pappus
[ păp′əs ]
A structure made of scales, bristles, or featherlike hairs that is attached to the seeds (called cypselae) of plants of the composite family and that aids in dispersal by the wind. The downy part of a dandelion or thistle seed is a pappus. The pappus is derived from a modified calyx.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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