CALYPTRA

calyptra

(noun) the hood or cap covering the calyx of certain plants: e.g., the California poppy

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

calyptra (plural calyptras or calyptrae)

(botany) In bryophytes, a thin, hood of tissue that forms from the archegonium and covers the developing sporophyte and is shed as it ripens.

(botany) any cap-like covering of a flower or fruit, such as the operculum over the unopened buds of Eucalyptus flowers

(botany) Any of various coverings at the tips of structures, in the terminology of various authors; for example rootcaps and the apical cells of trichomes.

(entomology) In flies such as the housefly, Musca, in the taxonomic order Diptera, zoological section Schizophora, subsection Calyptrata, the calyptra is a membranous rearward extension of the forewing; it covers the haltere.

Source: Wiktionary


Ca*lyp"tra, n. Etym: [NL., fr. Gr. (Bot.)

Definition: A little hood or veil, resembling an extinguisher in form and position, covering each of the small flaskike capsules which contain the spores of mosses; also, any similar covering body.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

6 June 2025

PUNGENCY

(noun) wit having a sharp and caustic quality; “he commented with typical pungency”; “the bite of satire”


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Coffee Trivia

The Boston Tea Party helped popularize coffee in America. The hefty tea tax imposed on the colonies in 1773 resulted in America switching from tea to coffee. In the lead up to the Revolutionary War, it became patriotic to sip java instead of tea. The Civil War made the drink more pervasive. Coffee helped energize tired troops, and drinking it became an expression of freedom.

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