polyarchadj.
/ˈpɒlɪɑːk/, U.S. /ˈpɑliˌɑrk/ Botany.
Of xylem or woody tissue: arising from several points of origin, having many strands of protoxylem.
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the world > plants > part of plant > cell or aggregate tissue > [adjective] > having particular number of points of origin
heptarch1884
octarch1884
oligarch1884
pentarch1884
polyarch1884
tetrarch1884
triarch1884
hexarch1900
1884 F. O. Bower & D. H. Scott tr. H. A. de Bary Compar. Anat. Phanerogams & Ferns 351 The xylem is according to the particular case diarch or polyarch, and its starting-points..all lie at equal distances from one another.
1914 M. Drummond tr. G. Haberlandt Physiol. Plant Anat. vii. 352 It is customary to discriminate between diarch, tetrarch, pentarch, hexarch and polyarch bundles.
1964 H. J. Dittmer Phylogeny & Form in Plant Kingdom xxiii. 563 The xylem may be termed diarch when only two points are present, triarch with three, tetrarch with four, or polyarch with many.
1992 M. Ingrouille Diversity & Evol. Land Plants 32 Iris has a polyarch stele.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1884