calyx
/ˈkalɪks
/ /ˈkeɪlɪks/(also calix)
noun (plural calyces /ˈkalɪsiːz/ /ˈkeɪlɪsiːz/ or calyxes)
1 Botany The sepals of a flower, typically forming a whorl that encloses the petals and forms a protective layer around a flower in bud. Compare with corolla.Similar to the color traits, plant prickles were also evaluated for individual organs including stem, leaf, and flower and fruit calyxes....
- Unlike with other bulb flowers, the calyxes of amaryllises do not open quickly, so consider this when using them in flower arrangements for certain occasions.
- The flower has a tubular calyx with four ovate lobes and a corolla with four overlapping petals.
2 Zoology A cup-like cavity or structure, in particular:
2.1A portion of the pelvis of a mammalian kidney.The renal pelvis, calyces, and renal vein were grossly uninvolved....
- You seem to be having a stone in the lower calyx of the right kidney.
- In this case, the calyces are compressed by the markedly distended renal pelvis.
2.2The cavity in a calcareous coral skeleton that surrounds the polyp.The polyp lived on top of a tabula in a depression in the top of the coral called the calyx.
2.3The plated body of a crinoid, excluding the stalk and arms.The pattern of proximal axes being more aborally inclined than are distal axes is similar to that in C axes of crinoid calyx plates....
- Although very few crinoid calyxes were encountered in the samples, columnals were ubiquitous and provided the basis for identification of crinoid genera.
- The characters that make this species distinct from the members of the C. sampsoni clade are primarily the thin-plated calyx and basal plates, which are higher than wide.
Origin
Late 17th century: from Latin, from Greek kalux 'case of a bud, husk', related to kaluptein 'to hide'.