Definition of stigmaria in English:
stigmaria
nounPlural stigmariae stɪɡˈmɛːrɪəˌstiɡˈmerēə
A fossilized root of a giant lycopod (plant), common in Carboniferous coal measures.
Class Lycopsida, in particular the genera Lepidodendron and Sigillaria
Example sentencesExamples
- The round nodes on the surface of the stigmaria are scars where ribbon-like rootlets were once attached and arranged radially about the stigmaria like the bristles of a bottle brush.
- Stigmariae are most often found in layers of clay below coal seams; the clay layer is thought to represent the layer of soil below the coal swamps.
- The rhizomes, or root systems, of both genera, known as stigmariae, were thought to be distinct plants when their fossils were first discovered.
Derivatives
adjective
Standing trees were not preserved within the six examples, but stigmarian roots extended away from the base of three of them.
Example sentencesExamples
- The absence of root hairs on ‘stigmarian rootlets’ is also consistent with their origin from leaves.
- Undisturbed layering around the stigmarian roots is consistent with their sedimentary burial, not with the intrusion of roots into an already layered soil.
- Realizing that the stigmarian roots were part of the plants that made up the coal seams, Logan communicated his observations to the Geological Society of London in February 1840 and later published them as an abstract in the Proceedings and in full in the Transactions.
- On the right side is a close-up of a stigmarian axis with the typical spiral arrangement of scars.
Origin
Mid 19th century: modern Latin, from Greek stigma, with reference to the scars where rootlets were attached, covering the fossils.