polygamous
- adjective
- /pəˈlɪɡəməs/
- Specialized
:
monoico
- In the botanical garden, we observed a polygamous variety with both bisexual and unisexual flowers.
Examples
-
The biologist explained how polygamous plants can increase their chances of reproduction by having different types of flowers.
-
Polygamous Potion
Blog text (2) -
The polygamous plant species produces both male and female flowers on the same individual.
Synonyms
1
9.5
An animal or plant that has both male and female sex organs
1
9.9
A plant or animal that has both male and female reproductive parts on the same body
Having both male and female sex parts on the same plant
Having both male and female parts in the same plant
Having both male and female reproductive parts in the same body, as in some flowers or animals
A plant that has several different parts for making new plants on the same plant
A plant that has different kinds of parts that make sex cells
Surface Forms
Morphology
polygamous = polygamy (opaque) = poly + gam + ous
Although the form is analyzable as poly- plus a marriage/mating stem, the botanical sense is specialized and not predictable from the parts for most learners.
Etymology
Polygamous comes from the Greek parts poly- 'many' and gamos 'marriage', the same root you see in monogamy ('one marriage'). In botany it means a single plant has 'many' kinds of flowers, such as male, female, and bisexual ones, so the name shows the plant has several flower types at once.