Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Remaining on a tree after maturity and opening to release seeds only after exposure to certain conditions, especially heat from a fire. Used of the cones of gymnosperms.
- adjective Being a species having such cones.
from The Century Dictionary.
- In botany, appearing late in a season, or later than some allied species.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective (Biol.) Appearing or blossoming later in the season than is customary with allied species.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective Requiring the heat of a
wildfire to open, in order to disperse its seed. - adjective Appearing or blossoming later in the season than is customary with allied species.
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word serotinous.
Examples
-
Older trees, or trees in a region with a history of fire, produce mostly serotinous cones which squirrels ignore as too difficult, and which open only at higher temperatures from 113° to 140°F.
Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011
-
Although in the past fire was sometimes an immediate enemy to specific stands of lodgepole, fire also opened the serotinous cones and prepared a nutrient-rich seedbed for the next generation.
Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011
-
Older trees, or trees in a region with a history of fire, produce mostly serotinous cones which squirrels ignore as too difficult, and which open only at higher temperatures from 113° to 140°F.
Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011
-
I learned that the lodgepole makes two kinds of cones—serotinous and nonserotinous.
Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011
-
I learned that the lodgepole makes two kinds of cones—serotinous and nonserotinous.
Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011
-
Although in the past fire was sometimes an immediate enemy to specific stands of lodgepole, fire also opened the serotinous cones and prepared a nutrient-rich seedbed for the next generation.
Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011
-
I learned that the lodgepole makes two kinds of cones—serotinous and nonserotinous.
Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011
-
Although in the past fire was sometimes an immediate enemy to specific stands of lodgepole, fire also opened the serotinous cones and prepared a nutrient-rich seedbed for the next generation.
Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011
-
Older trees, or trees in a region with a history of fire, produce mostly serotinous cones which squirrels ignore as too difficult, and which open only at higher temperatures from 113° to 140°F.
Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011
-
Although in the past fire was sometimes an immediate enemy to specific stands of lodgepole, fire also opened the serotinous cones and prepared a nutrient-rich seedbed for the next generation.
Bird Cloud Annie Proulx 2011
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.