Indumentum
Appearance
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/EchiumVulgare-stengel-hr.jpg/220px-EchiumVulgare-stengel-hr.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/15/Nepenthes_chaniana_5.jpg/220px-Nepenthes_chaniana_5.jpg)
In biology, an indumentum (Latin, literally: "garment") is a covering of trichomes (fine "hairs") on a plant[1] or of bristles (rarely scales) of an insect.[citation needed]
In plants, indumentum types include:
- pubescent
- hirsute
- pilose
- lanate
- villous
- tomentose
- stellate
- scabrous
- scurfy
The indumentum on plants can have a wide variety of functions, including as anchorage in climbing plants (e.g., Galium aparine), in transpiration control, in water absorption (Tillandsia), the reflection of solar radiation, increasing water-repellency (e.g., in the aquatic fern Salvinia), in protection against insect predation, and in the trapping of insects (Drosera, Nepenthes, Stylosanthes).
The use of an indumentum on
]bog Labrador tea
(Rhododendron groenlandicum) leafSee also
References
- OCLC 552236
External links