cryptogamic

American  

[krip-tuh-gam-ik] / ˌkrɪp təˈgæm ɪk /

adjective

1. Botany. being a cryptogam or relating to or characteristic of cryptogams.

2. having or being a crustlike soil surface containing lichens, mosses, and other organic material.

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Example Sentences

For thousands of years men looked at the cryptogamic mold called Penicillium notatum, but Dr. Fleming was the first to see its meaning.

From Time Magazine Archive

For thousands of years men looked at the cryptogamic mold called Penicillium notatum, but Dr. Fleming was the first to see its cryptic meaning.

From Time Magazine Archive

Of flowering plants there are, as far as at present is known, 185 species, and 40 cryptogamic species, making altogether 225; of this number I was fortunate enough to bring home 193.

From The Voyage of the Beagle by Darwin, Charles

Their affinities and analogies to other cryptogamic families, and to the Phanerogamia.

From The Commercial Products of the Vegetable Kingdom Considered in Their Various Uses to Man and in Their Relation to the Arts and Manufactures; Forming a Practical Treatise & Handbook of Reference for the Colonist, Manufacturer, Merchant, and Consumer, on the Cultivation, Preparation for Shipment, and Commercial Value, &c. of the Various Substances Obtained From Trees and Plants, Entering into the Husbandry of Tropical and Sub-tropical Regions, &c. by Simmonds, P. L.

On the other hand, of sixty cryptogamic plants, collected by Dr. J. Hooker in the same island, twelve only were peculiar.

From Principles of Geology or, The Modern Changes of the Earth and its Inhabitants Considered as Illustrative of Geology by Lyell, Charles, Sir