a woody plant with small leathery evergreen leaves that is the dominant plant form in certain hot dry areas, esp the Mediterranean region
Derived forms
sclerophyllous (sklɛˈrɒfɪləs)
adjective
Word origin
C20: from Greek sklēros hard + phullon a leaf
sclerophyll in American English
(ˈsklɪərəfɪl)
Botany
adjective
1. Also: sclerophyllous (ˌsklɪərəˈfɪləs)
of, pertaining to, or exhibiting sclerophylly
noun
2.
a plant exhibiting sclerophylly
Word origin
[1910–15; sclero- + -phyll]This word is first recorded in the period 1910–15. Other words that entered Englishat around the same time include: blackout, insulin, payoff, radio, zingsclero- is a combining form meaning “hard,” used with this meaning, and as a combining formof sclera, in the formation of compound words. Other words that use the affix sclero- include: scleroderma, sclerometer, sclerophylly, sclerotherapy, sclerotome
Examples of 'sclerophyll' in a sentence
sclerophyll
Modern flammable ecosystems include tropical and subtropical savannas, steppe grasslands, boreal forests and temperate sclerophyll shrublands.
William John Bond 2015, 'Fires in the Cenozoic: a late flowering of flammable ecosystems', Frontiers in Plant Sciencehttp://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fpls.2014.00749/full. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)