Definition of nyctinastic in English:
nyctinastic
adjective ˌnɪktɪˈnastɪkˌniktəˈnastik
Botany (of the periodic movement of flowers or leaves) caused by nightly changes in light intensity or temperature.
Example sentencesExamples
- Leaflets of nyctinastic plants assume a vertical (i.e. closed) position in darkness and revert to horizontal orientation upon illumination.
- Leaf-movement in nyctinastic plants has long been believed to be controlled by plant hormones that are common among all nyctinastic plants.
- Several systems of measurement have been used to characterize leaf or leaflet orientation during nyctinastic and heliotropic movement.
Derivatives
noun ˈnɪktɪˌnasti
Botany The trifoliate leaflets are closed as in nyctinasty.
Example sentencesExamples
- What is the selective advantage to plants of nyctinasty (sleep movements) which closes flowers in the evening?
- Many plants growing in areas of high rainfall, use circadian plant leaf movement, or nyctinasty, to change their leaves' angles in relation to the vertical and to facilitate their opening and closing.
- We found that nyctinasty is controlled by a periodic change of the internal concentration of leaf-opening and leaf-closing substances in the plant body.
Origin
Early 20th century: from Greek nux, nukt- 'night' + nastos 'pressed' + -ic.