Definition of sympodium in English:
sympodium
nounPlural sympodia sɪmˈpəʊdɪəmsimˈpōdēəm
Botany The apparent main axis or stem of a plant, made up of successive secondary axes due to the death of each season's terminal bud, as in the vine.
Example sentencesExamples
- A sympodium is generally defined as an axial bundle and its associated leaf and branch traces.
- Each module of a sympodium consists of an axis bearing two bracts and terminating in a flower.
- Since the lateral axes have more or less the same pattern of arrangement of sympodia as the main axis, the number of branch bundles is related to the number of bundles within the leaf vascular supply characteristic for that species.
- In the second treatment, the main stem leaf subtending the sympodium was treated.
- The sympodia are arranged more or less parallel to the stem axis and follow the phyllotactic spirals of the leaves.
Derivatives
adjective
Botany In apple, annual shoots can be monopodial or sympodial.
Example sentencesExamples
- As a walnut tree ages, the development pattern changes from monopodial to sympodial.
- Other types of branching, such the monopodial or sympodial types, are variants of this.
- Extensive sympodial branching does not necessarily follow the attainment of an upper canopy position of full exposure to the solar zenith.
- Such apparent sympodial branching is repeated annually.
Origin
Mid 19th century: modern Latin, from Greek syn- 'together' + pous, pod- 'foot'.