gemma

American  

[jem-uh] / ˈdʒɛm ə /

noun

plural

gemmae

1. a bud.

2. Botany. a cell or cluster of cells, or a leaflike or budlike body, that separates from the parent plant to form a new organism, as in mosses and liverworts.

3. Zoology. gemmule.

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gemma British  

/ dʒɛˈmeɪʃəs, ˈdʒɛmə /

noun

1. a small asexual reproductive structure in liverworts, mosses, etc, that becomes detached from the parent and develops into a new individual

2. zoology another name for gemmule

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gemma Scientific  

/ jĕm′ə /

plural

gemmae

1. A budlike mass of undifferentiated tissue which serves as a means of vegetative reproduction among mosses and liverworts. The gemmae, often formed in structures called gemma cups, are usually dispersed from the parent plant by the splashing of raindrops, after which they develop into new individuals.

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Other Word Forms

• gemmaceous adjective

Etymology

Origin of gemma

First recorded in 1760–70; from Latin: “bud, jewel”; gem

Example Sentences

Siena mi fe; disfecomi Maremma; Salsi colui, che, inanellata pria, Disposato m'avea colla sua gemma.

From Ride to the Lady And Other Poems by Cone, Helen Gray

Gutta quidem sacros quaecunque perambulat artus, Dum manet hic, gemma est; dum cadit hinc, lacryma.

From The Complete Works of Richard Crashaw, Volume II (of 2) by Crashaw, Richard

We have in plastic art only two pictorial reproductions: the so-called Vienna gemma, Augustus's Pannonian triumph, and the Parisian gemma, Germanicus's triumph, to show us objectively the vestments of the ancient Germans.

From Women of the Teutonic Nations Woman: In all ages and in all countries Vol. 8 (of 10) by Schoenfeld, Hermann

Many phænogams have gemma in addition to sexes, so have Hepaticæ. 

From Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and the Neighbouring Countries by Griffith, William

"Alter Amazoniam pharetram, plenamque sagittis Threiciis, lato quam circumplectitur auro Balteus, et tereti subnectit fibula gemma."

From Discourses on Satire and on Epic Poetry by Dryden, John