CALYX

calyx

(noun) (botany) the whorl of sepals of a flower collectively forming the outer floral envelope or layer of the perianth enclosing and supporting the developing bud; usually green

Source: WordNet® 3.1

---

Etymology

Noun

calyx (plural calyces or calyxes)

(botany) The outermost whorl of flower parts, comprising the sepals, which covers and protects the petals as they develop.

Meronym: sepal

(zoology, anatomy) Any of various cup-like structures.

A chamber in the mammalian kidney through which urine passes.

The crown containing the viscera of crinoids and similar echinoderms, entoprocts, and the polyps of some cnidarians.

A funnel-shaped expansion of the vas deferens or oviduct of insects.

A flattened cap of neuropil in the brain of insects.

Source: Wiktionary

---

Ca"lyx, n.; pl. E. Calyxes, L. Calyces. Etym: [L. calyx, -ycis, fr. Gr. Chalice Helmet.]

1. (Bot.)

Definition: The covering of a flower. See Flower.

Note: The calyx is usually green and foliaceous, but becomes delicate and petaloid in such flowers as the anemone and the four-o'clock. Each leaf of the calyx is called a sepal.

2. (Anat.)

Definition: A cuplike division of the pelvis of the kidney, which surrounds one or more of the renal papilæ.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

---