heterophyllous

American  

[het-er-uh-fil-uhs] / ˌhɛt ər əˈfɪl əs /

adjective

Botany.

1. having different kinds of leaves on the same plant.

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heterophyllous British  

/ ˌhɛtəˈrɒfɪləs, ˌhɛtərəʊˈfɪləs /

adjective

1. Also: anisophyllous.  (of plants such as arrowhead) having more than one type of leaf on the same plant

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Other Word Forms

• heterophylly noun

Etymology

Origin of heterophyllous

First recorded in 1820–30; hetero- + -phyllous

Example Sentences

Such cases differ but little from the so- called heterophyllus varieties, in which the tree habitually bears leaves of various forms; but it is probable that most heterophyllous trees have originated as seedlings.

From The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication — Volume 1 by Darwin, Charles

There is another variety which bears on the same tree differently shaped leaves, like the heterophyllous hornbeam; this tree is also remarkable from having pendulous branches, and bearing elongated, large, thin-shelled nuts.

From The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication — Volume 1 by Darwin, Charles

Descriptive botanists recognise this occurrence in the case of leaves, and apply the epithet heterophyllous to plants possessed of these variable foliar characters.

From Vegetable Teratology An Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants by Masters, Maxwell T.