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Webster 1913 Edition

Pappus

Pap′pus

,
Noun.
[L., an old man or grandfather; hence, a substance resembling gray hairs, Gr. [GREEK].]
(Bot.)
The hairy or feathery appendage of the achenes of thistles, dandelions, and most other plants of the order
Compositæ
; also, the scales, awns, or bristles which represent the calyx in other plants of the same order.

Webster 1828 Edition

Pappus

PAP'PUS

,
Noun.
[L. from Gr. an old man or grandfather,hence a substance resembling gray hairs.] The soft downy substance that grows on the seeds of certain plants, as on those of the thistle.

Definition 2024

pappus

pappus

English

Noun

pappus ‎(plural pappuses or pappi)

  1. (botany) The markedly reduced sepals of an Asteraceae floret that take the form of trichomes or scale attached to the ovary or seed.

Translations

Etymology

Via Latin from Ancient Greek παπποσ ‎(pappos), affectionate term for elderly men (referencing beards).

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