acalycine
adj. C2 Proficiency aca·lycine
adj. describing a type of plant that does not have a calyx. The calyx is the outer ring of leaves at the base of a flower.
adj. lacking a calyx; pertaining to plants whose flowers do not possess an outer whorl of sepals.
The acalycine plant has no outer petals.
Botanists identified the specimen as an acalycine species because its flowers lacked the typical protective outer layer.
In some acalycine species, the absence of a calyx is compensated by the development of a thickened hypanthium that provides structural support to the reproductive organs.
From a- + Latin calyx + -ine. By surface analysis, a- + calycine.