peloria

American  

[puh-lawr-ee-uh, -lohr-] / pəˈlɔr i ə, -ˈloʊr- /

noun

Botany.

1. regularity of structure occurring abnormally in flowers normally irregular.

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peloria British  

/ -ˈlɒ-, pɛˈlɔːrɪə, pɛˈlɔːrɪk /

noun

1. the abnormal production of actinomorphic flowers in a plant of a species that usually produces zygomorphic flowers

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Other Word Forms

• peloric adjective

Etymology

Origin of peloria

1855–60; < New Latin < Greek pélōr ( os ) monstrous ( pélōr monster + -os adj. suffix) + -ia -ia

Example Sentences

He named the plant Peloria, after the Greek word for 'monster'.

From Nature

Peloria, pē-lō′ri-a, n. the appearance of regularity in flowers normally irregular—also Pel′orism.—adjs.

From Project Gutenberg

Peloria, an abnormal return to regularity and symmetry in an irregular flower; commonest in Snapdragon.

From Project Gutenberg

In Thessaly the peloria were a festival, the name of which was derived from Pelor, the man that brought news that an earthquake had drained the valley of Tempe.

From Project Gutenberg

When an habitually irregular flower becomes regular, it does so in one of two ways; either by the non-development of the irregular portions, or by the formation of irregular parts in increased number, so that the symmetry of the flower is rendered perfect, as in the original peloria of Linnæus, and which may be called irregular peloria, while the former case may be called regular peloria.

From Project Gutenberg