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

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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

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

spinescent

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 A. C. (Austin Craig) Apgar

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 K. Rangachari

Characters of Dipsacus, but the green leaves of the involucre and involucels not rigid nor spinescent.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Asa Gray

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 Mary Elizabeth Parsons

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

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

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