serotinous
Americanadjective
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Botany. delaying the release of seeds until triggered by particular environmental conditions, as in the case of certain conifers or their cones, some of which require the heat of a wildfire or forest fire to open.
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Botany. occurring, developing, or flowering relatively late.
Other Word Forms
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Their serotinous cones, coated in a sticky resin, can’t open and spread their seeds without it.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2024
Some pine trees have developed thick cones, known as serotinous cones, that are glued shut with a strong resin.
From New York Times ● Aug. 1, 2022
The giant sequoia cones are serotinous, which means that they don’t open and release seed unless subjected to heat.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 15, 2022
Some lodgepole pinecones are serotinous: they open and release seeds only when activated by the heat generated by fires.
From Time Magazine Archive
New forms, however, are gradually evolved—the seed with a thick wing-blade, the indurated oblique cone, the serotinous cone with its intermittent seed-release, and the multinodal spring-shoot.
From The Genus Pinus by Shaw, George Russell
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
