parastichy
[ pi-ras-ti-kee ]
noun,plural pa·ras·ti·chies.Botany.
one of a number of seemingly secondary spirals or oblique ranks winding around the stem or axis to the right and left in a spiral arrangement of leaves, scales, etc., where the internodes are short and the members closely crowded, as in the houseleek and the pine cone.
Origin of parastichy
1Words Nearby parastichy
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
British Dictionary definitions for parastichy
parastichy
/ (pəˈræstɪkɪ) /
nounplural -chies
a hypothetical spiral line connecting the bases of a series of leaves on a stem
an arrangement of leaves so connected
Origin of parastichy
1C19: from para- 1 + Greek stikhia, from stikhos row, rank
- Compare orthostichy
Derived forms of parastichy
- parastichous, adjective
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
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