myrmecochoren.
/ˈməːmᵻkə(ʊ)kɔː/, U.S. /ˈmərməkoʊˌkɔr/; see also myrmeco- comb. form Botany.
Originally: a seed or fruit having an appendage rich in oil or protein which makes it attractive to ants, so facilitating its dispersal (now rare). In later use chiefly: a plant bearing such seeds.
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the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > seed > plant having seed > [noun] > dispersal of seeds > plant characterized by method of > seed belonging to
myrmecochore1928
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > seed > plant having seed > [noun] > dispersal of seeds > plant characterized by method of
zoophile1895
zoochore1904
hydro-chore1905
myrmecochore1972
1928 C. K. Ogden tr. A. Forel Social World of Ants I. ii. iii. 257 Sernander has given the name myrmecochores (favourite food of ants) to certain seeds with oily appendages which serve to attract ants towards them or towards their fruit, and thus to secure transportation by these insects.
1949 I. F. Henderson & W. D. Henderson Dict. Sci. Terms (ed. 4) 278/2 Myrmecochore, an oily seed modified to attract, and be spread by, ants.
1972 Amer. Jrnl. Bot. 59 118/1 The Vancouveria species also belong to the most common type of myrmecochore, the Viola odorata-type..which is characterized by appendaged seeds.
1991 Austral. Jrnl. Ecol. 16 445 This effect of very infertile soils may also account for the high incidence of myrmecochores in the floras of Australia and South Africa.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1928