pleurocarpousadj.
/ˌplʊərə(ʊ)ˈkɑːpəs/, /ˌplɔːrə(ʊ)ˈkɑːpəs/, U.S. /ˌplʊroʊˈkɑrpəs/ Botany.
Of mosses: bearing archegonia or capsules on short lateral branches. Cf. acrocarpous adj.
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the world > plants > particular plants > moss > [adjective] > of or relating to types of
sphagnous1828
splachnoid1833
acrocarpous1842
hypnoid1852
lycopodiaceous1852
astomous1857
pleurocarpous1858
gymnostomous1861
sphagneous1861
syncladous1863
systylous1863
stegocarpous1884
systylious1887
trioperculate1900
megasporangiate1901
1858 R. G. Mayne Expos. Lexicon Med. Sci. (1860) 979/1 Pleurocarpus, applied by Bridel to a class..of the Musci Calypteratæ, in which the fruit is lateral upon the stem or branches: pleurocarpeous.
1863 M. J. Berkeley Handbk. Brit. Mosses iii. 14 In Pleurocarpous Mosses..true ramification constantly takes place.
1874 Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 5 7 The number of exclusively Western North American species is thirty-seven, or thirty per cent (sixteen acrocarpous and twenty-one pleurocarpous).
1959 W. B. Turrill Vistas in Bot. 404 Both ‘acrocarpous’ and ‘pleurocarpous’ mosses undergo a whole series of further changes of form before the sexually mature shoots are produced.
1981 E. V. Watson Brit. Mosses & Liverworts 6 Where a much-branched pleurocarpous moss is being examined it is important to detach leaves from one of the main stems, since those on the finer branches are often quite different in shape.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1858