pappus

American  

[pap-uhs] / ˈpæp əs /

noun

Botany.

pappi plural

1. a downy, bristly, or other tuftlike appendage of the achene of certain plants, as the dandelion and the thistle.

---

pappus British  

/ ˈpæpəs /

noun

1. a ring of fine feathery hairs surrounding the fruit in composite plants, such as the thistle; aids dispersal of the fruits by the wind

---

pappus Scientific  

/ păp′əs /

pappi plural

1. A structure made of scales, bristles, or featherlike hairs that is attached to the seeds (called cypselae) of plants of the composite family and that aids in dispersal by the wind. The downy part of a dandelion or thistle seed is a pappus. The pappus is derived from a modified calyx.

---

Other Word Forms

• pappose
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of pappus

1695–1705; < New Latin < Greek páppos down, literally, grandfather (taken as greybeard, white hairs, down)

Example Sentences

Turning to the car to leave, I see the white globe of a dandelion pappus float past the driver’s window and gently land by the front wheel.

From New York Times • Sep. 5, 2022

Dr. Cummins said the filaments make the pappus four times as efficient at staying afloat as a simple flat disc.

From New York Times • Oct. 23, 2018

The group tested their ideas with simplified artificial models, etched silicon discs that were porous like the bristly pappus.

From New York Times • Oct. 23, 2018

The pappus seemed to be acting like a balloon or a parachute, keeping the seed from succumbing to gravity.

From New York Times • Oct. 23, 2018

Stem diffusely much branched; leaves pinnately lobed or spinulose-toothed; heads sessile, the middle scales of the ovoid involucre spiny; pappus none; flowers purple; root annual.—Seaports,

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa