Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- adjective Of or relating to a sessile leaf or bract that completely clasps the stem and is apparently pierced by it.
from The Century Dictionary.
- In botany, having a stem which seems to pass through the blade: said of a leaf.
- In entomology, having the outer joints much dilated laterally all around, but not forming a compact club; taxicorn: said of antennæ appearing like a number of round plates joined by a shaft or stem running through their centers. Also
perfoliated .
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- adjective (Bot.) Having the basal part produced around the stem; -- said of leaves which the stem apparently passes directory through.
- adjective (Zoöl.) Surrounded by a circle of hairs, or projections of any kind.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective botany, of leaves Appearing to have the
stem passing through theblade .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- adjective (of a leaf) having the base united around (and apparently pierced by) the stem
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
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Examples
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= -- This takes place in several ways, and in very various degrees; the simplest case is that characterised by the cohesion of the margins of the same organ, as in the condition called perfoliate in descriptive works, and which is due either to a cohesion of the margins of the basal lobes of the leaf, or to the development of the leaf in a sheathing or tubular manner.
Vegetable Teratology An Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants Maxwell T. Masters
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The occurrence of species such as perfoliate Potamogeton perfoliatus, horned pondweed Zannichellia palustris and water milfoils Myriophyllum spp. is due to the area’s relatively sheltered situation.
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In the water, too, I see the brown leaves of the perfoliate pondweed; they are almost transparent, and look when dry something like gold-beater's skin.
Country Walks of a Naturalist with His Children W. Houghton
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