non-floweringadj.
/nɒnˈflaʊərɪŋ/, U.S. /nɑnˈflaʊ(ə)rɪŋ/ Botany.
That does not flower; flowerless, vegetative.
ΘΚΠ
the world > plants > part of plant > reproductive part(s) > flower or part containing reproductive organs > flower or flowering plant > [adjective] > having flowers or blossom > not having flowers
unflourished1486
unbloomed1528
bloomless?1593
unblossoming1699
blossomless1837
non-flowering1851
unblossomed1861
ananthous1866
1851 J. Anderson Course of Creation i. vii. 104 Another ground of distinction [is]..the division into cotyledonous and acotyledonous plants. The non-flowering or cryptogamous are all of the latter kind.
1880 Bot. Gaz. 5 51 P[otamogeton] pusillus... non-flowering but abundantly provided with propagating buds.
1946 A. Nelson Princ. Agric. Bot. vi. 102 The agricultural botanist..is often called upon to identify plants in the non-flowering, purely vegetative state.
1976 S. M. Gault Dict. Shrubs in Colour 147/1 Old flowering stems can be cut away, leaving the new non-flowering shoots for next season's crop.
1991 Gardener Jan. 35/2 Shrubs such as pyracantha, escallonia and flowering currant are best trimmed soon after flowering and allowed to grow a liitle more loosely than non-flowering hedges.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, December 2003; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1851