spinescent

American  

[spahy-nes-uhnt] / spaɪˈnɛs ənt /

adjective

1. Botany.

   1. becoming spinelike.

   2. ending in a spine.

   3. bearing spines.

2. Zoology. somewhat spinelike; coarse, as hair.

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spinescent British  

/ spaɪˈnɛsənt /

adjective

1. having or resembling a spine or spines

2. becoming spiny

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Other Word Forms

• spinescence noun

Etymology

Origin of spinescent

First recorded in 1785–95, spinescent is from the Late Latin word spīnēscent- (stem of spīnēscēns, present participle of spīnēscere to grow thorny). See spine, -escent

Example Sentences

C. biflorus.Base of involucel turbinate, inner bristles longer, spreading and spinescent, ciliate at base 2.

From A Handbook of Some South Indian Grasses by Rangachari, K.

Leaves alternate, deciduous, abruptly once-pinnate; leaflets mucronate; stipules usually spinescent.

From Trees of the Northern United States Their Study, Description and Determination by Apgar, A. C. (Austin Craig)

Trees or shrubs three to ten feet high, with ash-gray bark and branchlets occasionally spinescent.

From The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Parsons, Mary Elizabeth

The capillitium is remarkably spinescent, the branching of the threads, rare.

From The North American Slime-Moulds A Descriptive List of All Species of Myxomycetes Hitherto Reported from the Continent of North America, with Notes on Some Extra-Limital Species by MacBride, Thomas H. (Thomas Huston)

Leaves with 4 to 6 pairs of oval-oblong, mucronate-pointed, hairy leaflets; petioles unarmed; stipules spinescent.

From Trees of the Northern United States Their Study, Description and Determination by Apgar, A. C. (Austin Craig)