mesochilen.
/ˈmɛsə(ʊ)kʌɪl/, U.S. /ˈmɛzoʊˌkaɪl/; see also meso- comb. form. Botany.
In an orchid flower: the middle part of any labellum divided into distinct sections.
ΚΠ
1846 J. Lindley Veg. Kingdom 174 The third, called the lip (labellum),..now and then contracted so as to form two separate parts, of which the lowest is called the hypochil, the highest epichil, and the middle one the mesochil.
1896 Gardeners' Chron. 17 Oct. 456/1 The mesochile, viz., the principal part of the lip, is low from the base to the middle.
1952 A. G. L. Hellyer Sanders' Encycl. Gardening (ed. 22) 469 In the more popular kinds [of Stanhopea] the base of the lip is cup-like (the hypochil), from this proceeds a fleshy, grooved extension (the mesochil) bearing two large horns, and terminating in a usually heart-shaped lobe (the epichil).
1991 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 78 611/2 It [sc. the labellum] may be divided..into three parts: the proximal hypochile that includes the osmophore, the central mesochile (which may be indistinguishable in some species of Stanhopea) and the distal epichile.
2008 I. la Croix New Encycl. Orchids 448/1 Lip hypochile yellow with 2 large maroon eye-spots, mesochile with two fleshy horns.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2001; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1846