ENGLISH
REFERENCE

acaulous

adj.
C2 Proficiency acaulous

adj. describing a plant that does not have a stem. These plants often look like they are growing directly from the ground without any visible middle part.

adj. lacking a stem; referring to a plant that appears to have no visible axis. Often used to describe certain succulent or ground-hugging species.


SIMPLE

The desert plant is acaulous, growing directly from the soil.

CONTEXTUAL

In arid environments, many acaulous plants have evolved to store water in their thick, fleshy leaves rather than in a central stem.

COMPLEX

The botanist noted that the specimen was acaulous, with all its photosynthetic activity occurring in the broad, flattened rosettes rather than a traditional vertical axis.

Origin

From a- + caulis (“stalk”) + -ous. See cole.

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