parastichy

[ pi-ras-ti-kee ]

noun,plural pa·ras·ti·chies.Botany.
  1. one of a number of seemingly secondary spirals or oblique ranks winding around the stem or axis to the right and left in a spiral arrangement of leaves, scales, etc., where the internodes are short and the members closely crowded, as in the houseleek and the pine cone.

Origin of parastichy

1
First recorded in 1870–75; para-1 + stich1 + -y3

Words Nearby parastichy

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British Dictionary definitions for parastichy

parastichy

/ (pəˈræstɪkɪ) /


nounplural -chies
  1. a hypothetical spiral line connecting the bases of a series of leaves on a stem

  2. an arrangement of leaves so connected

Origin of parastichy

1
C19: from para- 1 + Greek stikhia, from stikhos row, rank

Derived forms of parastichy

  • parastichous, adjective

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