cupule

American  

[kyoo-pyool] / ˈkyu pyul /

noun

1. Botany.

   1. a cup-shaped whorl of hardened, cohering bracts, as in the acorn.

   2. a cup-shaped outgrowth of the thallus of certain liverworts.

   3. the apothecium of a cup fungus.

2. Zoology. a small cup-shaped sucker or similar organ or part.

---

cupule British  

/ ˈkjuːpjuːl /

noun

1. biology a cup-shaped part or structure, such as the cup around the base of an acorn

---

Etymology

Origin of cupule

1820–30; < New Latin cūpula, Late Latin: small tub; cupola

Example Sentences

They called the outer coat a cupule and proposed that it was the precursor to the outer coat, or integument, of angiosperm seeds.

From Science Magazine

Having fruit inclosed within a covering that does not form a part of itself; as, the filbert covered by its husk, or the acorn seated in its cupule.

From Project Gutenberg

The generally one-seeded nut-like fruit is associated with the persistent often hardened or greatly enlarged bracts forming the so-called cupule which gives the name to the group.

From Project Gutenberg

As development of the ovary and seeds progresses, the cupule also grows, and ultimately entirely surrounds the cluster with the hedgehog-like coat in which the nuts are contained when ripe.

From Project Gutenberg

In the Chestnut the cupule forms the bur; in the Hazel, a leafy husk.

From Project Gutenberg