tetradynamous

[ te-truh-dahy-nuh-muhs ]

adjective

, Botany.

1. having four long and two short stamens, as a cruciferous flower.

tetradynamous

/ -ˈdɪn-; ˌtɛtrəˈdaɪnəməs /

adjective

1. (of plants) having six stamens, two of which are shorter than the others

Word History and Origins

Origin of tetradynamous¹

1820–30; tetra- + Greek -dynamos -powered ( dýnam ( is ) power + -os adj. suffix; -ous )

Word History and Origins

Origin of tetradynamous¹

C19: from tetra- + Greek dunamis power

Example Sentences

The four inner stamens are longer than the two outer; and the stamens are hence collectively described as tetradynamous.

From Project Gutenberg

Tetradynamous, where a flower has six stamens, two shorter than the four, 101.

From Project Gutenberg

In other cases the variations in size are of a less general character, and affect certain organs of a whorl in a relative manner, as, for instance, in the case of didynamous or tetradynamous stamens, where two or four stamens are longer than their fellows, the long or short stamens and styles of di- and tri-morphic flowers, &c.

From Project Gutenberg

It will not hurt young ladies a bit to tell them in the presence of young gentlemen that a cabbage is a thalamifioral exogen, and its stamens are tetradynamous; nor that the mushroom, Psalliata campestris, and the toad-stool, Myoena campestris, are confounded by this science in one class, Cryptogamia.

From Project Gutenberg