perfoliate

[per-foh-lee-it, -eyt]

adjective

Botany.

1. having the stem apparently passing through the leaf, owing to congenital union of the basal edges of the leaf round the stem.

perfoliate

/ pəˈfəʊlɪɪt, -ˌeɪt /

adjective

1. (of a leaf) having a base that completely encloses the stem, so that the stem appears to pass through it

Other Word Forms

• perfoliation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of perfoliate¹

1540–50; < New Latin perfoliātus ( per-, foliate ), the feminine of which, perfoliāta, was formerly used as the name of a plant with a stalk that seemed to grow through (pierce) its leafage

Word History and Origins

Origin of perfoliate¹

C17: from New Latin perfoliātus, from Latin per- through + folium leaf

Example Sentences

Its leaves are perfoliate, i.e. opposite and united by their bases so that the stem seems to have grown through a single leaf.

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