capitate-inflorescent
|ca-pi-tate-in-flo-res-cent|
/kəˈpɪtət-ɪnfləˈrɛsənt/
flower cluster in a head (head-shaped inflorescence)
Etymology
'capitate-inflorescent' originates from Neo-Latin/Modern botanical English, specifically combining 'capitate' and 'inflorescent', where 'capitate' comes from Latin 'capitatus' (from 'caput' meaning 'head') and 'inflorescent' derives from Latin 'inflorescens' (present participle of 'inflorescere', meaning 'to begin to blow or to flower').
'capitate' entered botanical use via Medieval/Modern Latin (capitatus) to describe 'head-shaped'; 'inflorescent' arises from Latin 'inflorescens' and the noun 'inflorescence' used in 18th–19th century botany. The compound form 'capitate-inflorescent' is a modern technical formation in botanical descriptions (Neo-Latin/English), combining those elements to specify a particular inflorescence type.
Initially, the roots referred separately to 'head' (caput) and 'beginning to flower' (inflorescere); over time they combined in botanical terminology to mean specifically 'having a head-like cluster of flowers' as used in modern descriptions.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Adjective 1
having or bearing a capitate inflorescence — that is, flowers arranged in a dense, head-like cluster (a capitulum) at the tip of a stem or branch.
The alpine species is capitate-inflorescent, producing a tight head of small flowers at each stem tip.
Synonyms
Antonyms
Last updated: 2025/10/08 03:47