noun
type genus of the Psilotaceae
• Syn: ↑genus Psilotum
• Hypernyms: ↑fern genus
• Member Holonyms: ↑Psilotaceae, ↑family Psilotaceae
• Member Meronyms: ↑whisk fern
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\\sīˈlōd.əm\ nounUsage: capitalized
Etymology: New Latin, probably from Late Greek psilōton, a plant, perhaps from Greek psilon down, soft feather, alteration of ptilon; akin to Greek pteron wing, feather — more at feather
: a genus (the type of the family Psilotaceae) of chiefly tropical fern allies with terrestrial or epiphytic habit, slender branching stems, and sessile 3-celled sporangia usually in spikes
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Psilotum /sī-lōˈtəm or psī-lōˈtəm/ (botany)
noun
A genus of rootless pteridophytes from which is named the order Psilotāˈceae
ORIGIN: Gr psīlōton the name of some plant, from psīlos bare (because of the almost leafless stem)
Useful english dictionary. 2012.