serotinous

/ sĭ-rŏt′n-əs,sĕr′ə-tī′nəs /

1. Late in developing, opening, or blooming. For example, serotinous pine cones may persist unopened on the tree for years and only burst open during a forest fire. Serotinous flowers on trees develop only after the tree has produced leaves.

Example Sentences

In the Insignes the cone is oblique, persistent and serotinous, and the spring-shoot is multinodal.

From Project Gutenberg

By its close resemblance it may be considered the serotinous form of P. virginiana.

From Project Gutenberg

Hence all the families of this legion appear to be serotinous, their simple primitive nucleus persisting for a long period.

From Project Gutenberg

The serotinous cone is a gradual development, wanting in most species, rare in a few, less or more frequent in others.

From Project Gutenberg

With all serotinous species that I have seen, some of the trees open their cones at maturity, others at indefinite intervals.

From Project Gutenberg