virescence

[vahy-res-uhns, vi-]

noun

Botany.

1. state of becoming somewhat, though usually not totally, green, due to the abnormal presence of chlorophyll.

virescence

/ vɪˈrɛsəns /

noun

1. (in plants) the process of becoming green, esp by the action of disease, etc, in parts not normally green

2. the condition of being or the process of becoming green

Word History and Origins

Origin of virescence¹

First recorded in 1885–90; viresc(ent) + -ence

Word History and Origins

Origin of virescence¹

C19: see _virescent

Example Sentences

Virescence, the state or condition of becoming green, is one of many words in this novel that sent me to the dictionary.

Read more on Washington Post

Or this manifesto of aesthetic self-identification: “I’m a son of the north: my hues are the hammered gold of autumn, the silver-grey of the undersides of leaves in rainy springtime, the khaki shine of chilly summer beaches and the winter sea’s rough purples, its acid virescence.”

Read more on Washington Post

It must be distinguished from virescence, or the mere green colour of the floral organs, and from chloranthy, in which all or the greater portion of the parts of the flower are replaced by leaves.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

Sepalody of the petals.—This change, spoken of by most authors as retrograde metamorphosis of the petals into sepals, or as a substitution of sepals for petals, is obviously a condition that is in most cases hardly distinguishable from virescence of the corolla, or from multiplication of the sepals.

Read more on Project Gutenberg

Many of the cases recorded as reversions of the parts of the flower to leaves are simply instances of virescence; indeed, it is not in all cases easy to distinguish between the two states.

Read more on Project Gutenberg