suffruticose

American  

[suh-froo-ti-kohs] / səˈfru tɪˌkoʊs /

adjective

1. woody at the base and herbaceous above.

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suffruticose British  

/ səˈfruːtɪˌkəʊz /

adjective

1. (of a plant) having a permanent woody base and herbaceous branches

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Etymology

Origin of suffruticose

1785–95; < New Latin suffruticōsus, equivalent to Latin suf- suf- + frutic- (stem of frutex shrub, bush) + -ōsus -ose ¹

Example Sentences

Characters nearly as in Cycloloma, but the seed-coat membranaceous and the albumen wanting.—Annuals or suffruticose perennials, with flat or more usually linear and terete leaves.

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 Gray, Asa

The medicated suffruticose Artemisia: Joussa in old cultivation, and Peganum are the most common plants.

From Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and the Neighbouring Countries by Griffith, William

Vegetation is the same, no more dense aggregations of Artemisia fruticosa are seen, but the plants consisting of scattered Artemisia of yesterday, barely suffruticose, Peganum, Astragalus, Astragaloid Muscoideus, and Senecio glaucescens. 

From Journals of Travels in Assam, Burma, Bhootan, Afghanistan and the Neighbouring Countries by Griffith, William

It is quite low, being composed of heaped-up fragments of shells and coral, overrun with a suffruticose Sida, and stunted bushes of Clerodendrum and Premna, with a glossy-leaved euphorbiaceous plant occasionally forming small thickets.

From Narrative of the Voyage of H.M.S. Rattlesnake, Commanded By the Late Captain Owen Stanley, R.N., F.R.S. Etc. During the Years 1846-1850. Including Discoveries and Surveys in New Guinea, the Louisiade Archipelago, Etc. to Which Is Added the Account of Mr. E.B. Kennedy's Expedition for the Exploration of the Cape York Peninsula. By John Macgillivray, F.R.G.S. Naturalist to the Expedition. — Volume 1 by MacGillivray, John