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caducous
[ kuh-doo-kuhs, -dyoo- ]
adjective
- Botany. dropping off very early, as leaves.
- Zoology. subject to shedding.
caducous
/ kəˈdjuːkəs /
adjective
- biology (of parts of a plant or animal) shed during the life of the organism
caducous
/ kə-do̅o̅′kəs /
- Detaching or dropping off at an early stage of development. The gills of most amphibians and the sepals or stipules of certain plants are caducous.
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Word History and Origins
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Word History and Origins
Origin of caducous1
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Example Sentences
Leaves alternate, compound, digitate, caducous; leaflets 5–7 with long common petiole.
Leaves alternate, with stipules, these sometimes caducous, rarely obsolete or wanting.
Achenes short and thick, compressed or turgid, truncate, glabrous; pappus of 2–8 caducous awns.
Flowers white, small, in terminal umbel-like clusters from large scaly buds; bracts or scales thin and caducous.
Caducous, dropping off very early, compared with other parts; as the calyx in the Poppy, falling when the flower opens.
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