septicidal

American  

[sep-tuh-sahyd-l] / ˌsɛp təˈsaɪd l /

adjective

Botany.

1. (of a plant's capsule) bursting open lengthwise along a septum.

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septicidal British  

/ ˌsɛptɪˈsaɪdəl /

adjective

1. botany (of a dehiscence) characterized by splitting along the partitions of the seed capsule

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Other Word Forms

• septicidally adverb

Etymology

Origin of septicidal

First recorded in 1810–20; sept(um) ( def. ) + -cidal ( def. )

Example Sentences

In loculicidal dehiscence the valves naturally bear the partitions on their middle; in the septicidal, half the thickness of a partition is borne on the margin of each valve.

From The Elements of Botany For Beginners and For Schools by Gray, Asa

Calyx 5-cleft, free from the 2-celled ovary, which becomes a septicidal capsule.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

Pod of a Marsh St. John's-wort, with septicidal dehiscence.

From The Elements of Botany For Beginners and For Schools by Gray, Asa

The capsules of Rue, Spurge, and some others, are both loculicidal and septicidal, and so split into half-carpellary valves or pieces.

From The Elements of Botany For Beginners and For Schools by Gray, Asa

Pod ovoid-oblong, pointed, 2-celled, 2-valved, septicidal, many-seeded.—Low upright shrubs, with ovate or oblong pointed serrate leaves, and cymosely 3–several-flowered peduncles, from the upper axils or terminal.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa