pleiotaxy

American  

[plahy-uh-tak-see] / ˈplaɪ əˌtæk si /

Or pleiotaxis

noun

Botany.

1. an increase in the normal number of parts.

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Etymology

Origin of pleiotaxy

First recorded in 1885–90; pleio- + -taxy

Example Sentences

The increased number of leaves in a whorl may well be designated as "polyphylly," using the word in the same sense as in ordinary descriptive botany, while "pleiotaxy" may be applied to those cases in which the number of whorls is increased.

From Project Gutenberg

Pleiotaxy or multiplication of whorls.—In the preceding section notice has been taken of the increased number of parts in a single whorl, but an augmentation of the number of distinct whorls is still more frequently met with.

From Project Gutenberg

The distinction between the two modes in which the parts of the flower are increased in number has been pointed out by Engelmann, Moquin, and others, and the two seem to require distinctive epithets; hence the application of the terms polyphylly and pleiotaxy, as here proposed.

From Project Gutenberg

Pleiotaxy or repetition of the calyx.—The true calyx is very seldom affected in this manner, unless such organs as the epicalyx of mallows, Potentilla, &c., be considered as really parts of the calyx.

From Project Gutenberg

Pleiotaxy in the perianth.—Increase in the number of whorls in the perianth is common in lilies, narcissus, hyacinths, &c.

From Project Gutenberg