pneumatophore
[noo-mat-uh-fawr, -fohr, nyoo-, noo-muh-tuh-, nyoo-]
- Botany. a specialized structure developed from the root in certain plants growing in swamps and marshes, serving as a respiratory organ.
- Zoology. the air sac of a siphonophore, serving as a float.
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Origin of pneumatophore
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for pneumatophore
Historical Examples
The one end forms the pneumatophore, and the other, the oral part, the polypite.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume II (of 4)Francis Maitland Balfour
In cases where the cormus has no pneumatophore the topmost swimming bell may contain an oil-reservoir or oleocyst.
Divergent views have been held as to the morphological significance of the pneumatophore.
Next the pit closes up to form a vesicle with a pore, and so gives rise to the pneumatophore.
If sterile they remain attached and locomotor in function, forming the nectosome, the pneumatophore and swimming-bells.
pneumatophore
- a specialized root of certain swamp plants, such as the mangrove, that branches upwards, rising above ground, and undergoes gaseous exchange with the atmosphere
- a polyp in coelenterates of the order Siphonophora, such as the Portuguese man-of-war, that is specialized as a float
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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
pneumatophore
[nōō-măt′ə-fôr′, nōō′mə-tə-]
- A specialized root that grows upwards out of the water or mud to reach the air and obtain oxygen for the root systems of trees that live in swampy or tidal habitats. The knees of mangroves and the bald cypress are pneumatophores. Also called air root
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The American Heritage® Science Dictionary
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