hornwort

[ hawrn-wurt, -wawrt ]

/ ˈhɔrnˌwɜrt, -ˌwɔrt /

noun

any aquatic plant of the genus Ceratophyllum, found in ponds and slow streams.

Words nearby hornwort

hornsby, hornstone, hornswoggle, horntail, hornworm, hornwort, hornwrack, horny, horny coral, horny frog, horny layer

Origin of hornwort

First recorded in 1795–1805; horn + wort²

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for hornwort

It is the Hornwort (Ceratophyllum) gently wriggling or moving from side to side.
The Romance of Plant Life|G. F. Scott Elliot

British Dictionary definitions for hornwort

hornwort

/ (ˈhɔːnˌwɜːt) /

noun

any aquatic plant of the genus Ceratophyllum, forming submerged branching masses in ponds and slow-flowing streams: family Ceratophyllaceae

any of a group of bryophytes belonging to the phylum Anthocerophyta, resembling liverworts but with hornlike sporophytes

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Science definitions for hornwort

hornwort

[ hôrn′wûrt′, -wôrt′ ]

Any of about 100 species of small bryophyte plants belonging to the phylum Anthocerophyta. Unlike liverworts but like mosses, hornwort sporophytes have stomata. The hornwort gametophyte consists of a low thallus, out of which numerous slender, upright sporophytes tipped with sporangia grow. The sporophyte has a meristem that elongates the sporophyte with new growth, a feature that distinguishes the plant from the other bryophytes. The name of the hornworts was suggested by the hornlike appearance of the sporophytes. See more at bryophyte.