Obconic
In
ascospore. The use of obconic in botany dates to at least as early as the nineteenth century; however, some modern usage applies to an entire plant form, such as the shape of a whole shrub.[1]
More broadly, in geometry or design, the term can be assigned in an abstract manner to shapes in the natural or man-made world which show an inverted cone design.
Botanical examples
The
clavate calices.[5] The basal portion of the pistil of Pachypodium baronii
exhibits the obconic structural design.
As a fungal example the species Pocillum cesatii is noted to have an obconic ascospore.[6]
Etymology and historical usage
The derivation of the word obconic is based upon the Greek with the common prefix ob, meaning inverted, and the Greek word for angle gon or gonia, followed by the generic suffix ic.[7] Historically botanists have used the designation obconic to describe elements of a plant such as the fruit, hypanthium, calyx or pistil base since at least as early as the nineteenth century, and in modern times the term has been generalized to also refer to an entire plant architectural shape.
See also
- Conic
References
- ISBN 0-643-06720-5
- doi:10.2307/4111166
- ISBN 0-520-08255-9
- ^ C. Michael Hogan (2008) Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), GlobalTwitcher, ed. Nicklas Stromberg "Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia ) - - GlobalTwitcher.com". Archived from the original on July 19, 2009. Retrieved August 19, 2009.
- ^ Joseph Dalton Hooker (1879) The Flora of British India, Great Britain India Office, Published by L. Reeve
- ^ George Massee (1895) British Fungus-flora: A Classified Text-book of Mycology
- ^ Laurence Urdang, Alexander Humez and Howard G. Zettler (1982) Suffixes and Other Word-final Elements of English, Contributor Laurence Urdang, Published by Gale Research Co.
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