cleistogamous

Also cleis·to·gam·ic

[klahy-stog-uh-muhs]

adjective

Botany.

1. pertaining to or having pollination occurring in unopened flowers.

cleistogamous

1. Of or relating to a flower that does not open and is self-pollinated in the bud. The fertile flowers of the violet are inconspicuous and cleistogamous, while the plant's more familiar showy flowers are usually infertile.

Other Word Forms

• cleistogamously adverb
• cleistogamically adverb
• cleistogamy noun
• noncleistogamic adjective
• noncleistogamous adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of cleistogamous¹

First recorded in 1880–85; cleisto- + -gamous

Example Sentences

Finely puberulent; leaves mostly ovate and acutish with a cordate base, often small; flowers small and mostly cleistogamous.—Sandy or stony shores and islands of Lakes Huron and Superior.

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Amphicarpum, native in the south-eastern United States, has fertile cleistogamous spikelets on filiform runners at the base of the culm, those on the terminal panicle are sterile.

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Every plant which produces these cleistogamous or bud-fertilized flowers bears also more conspicuous and open flowers, usually of bright colors.

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In other cases precautions are taken to prevent cross-fertilisation, as in the numerous cleistogamous or closed flowers.

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The beech-drop bears cleistogamous or blind flowers in addition to the few showy ones needed to attract insects.

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