apetalous flower
- noun
- /ˈeɪpɪˌtæləs ˈflaʊər/
- Specialized
:
flor sin pétalos
- An apetalous flower lacks the colorful petals typical of most flowers.
Examples
-
Some grasses bear apetalous flowers that rely on the wind rather than insects for pollination.
-
The willow tree produces small, inconspicuous apetalous flowers in the early spring.
-
Botanists often study apetalous flowers to understand evolutionary adaptations in plants.
-
The apetalous flowers of the plant are quite unique.
-
Some grasses bear apetalous flowers that rely on the wind rather than insects for pollination.
-
The willow tree produces small, inconspicuous apetalous flowers in the early spring.
-
Botanists often study apetalous flowers to understand evolutionary adaptations in plants.
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a flower that does not have petals' is directly compositional: 'apetalous' denotes absence of petals (a- + petalous) and modifies 'flower', so the overall sense follows from the constituents. Although botanical and somewhat low-frequency, the negative prefix + noun pattern is regular and thus predictable for a learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Apetalous flower comes from the small word a- meaning 'not' and petal, the leaf-like part of a flower, so it paints the image of a flower without petals. That's why it means 'a flower that does not have petals'.
