cryptogamousadj.
/krɪpˈtɒɡəməs/, U.S. /krɪpˈtɑɡəməs/ Botany.
= cryptogamic adj. 1.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > spore or sporule > cryptogam or plant having spores > [adjective]
sexless1757
cryptogamous1781
cryptogamic1785
cryptogamical?1791
asexual1795
aetheogamous1830
amphigamous1841
acrogenic1844
apogamous1878
apogamic1886
1781 R. Pulteney Gen. View Writings Linnæus 408 Cryptogamous Plants.
1796 T. Pennant Hist. Whiteford & Holywell 153 The picturesque dingle Nant-y-bi abounds with what the botanists name the cryptogamous plants.
1826 Gardener's Mag. 1 157 The species..appear to have been some where about 6000, including both phænogamous and cryptogamous vegetation.
1887 Amer. Jrnl. Sci. 133 428 We may protest against the present but probably fleeting fancy of imposing cryptogamous terminology or phanerogamous botany.
1966 Science 18 Feb. 151/2 Antarctic mosses and hepatics..are extremely important elements of the cryptogamous Antarctic flora.
2004 Arctic, Antarctic, & Alpine Res. 36 596 Plant cover in areas with strongly reduced resource availability as in snowbanks is low (with cryptogamous cover being high in some places).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1781