hornwort

[ hawrn-wurt, -wawrt ]

noun

1. any aquatic plant of the genus Ceratophyllum, found in ponds and slow streams.

hornwort

/ ˈhɔːnˌwɜːt /

noun

1. any aquatic plant of the genus Ceratophyllum, forming submerged branching masses in ponds and slow-flowing streams: family Ceratophyllaceae
2. any of a group of bryophytes belonging to the phylum Anthocerophyta , resembling liverworts but with hornlike sporophytes

hornwort

/ hôrn′wûrt′,-wôrt′ /

1. Any of about 100 species of small bryophyte plants belonging to the phylum Anthocerophyta. Unlike liverworts but like mosses, hornwort sporophytes have stomata. The hornwort gametophyte consists of a low thallus, out of which numerous slender, upright sporophytes tipped with sporangia grow. The sporophyte has a meristem that elongates the sporophyte with new growth, a feature that distinguishes the plant from the other bryophytes. The name of the hornworts was suggested by the hornlike appearance of the sporophytes.
2. See more at bryophyte

Word History and Origins

Origin of hornwort¹

First recorded in 1795–1805; horn + wort ²

Example Sentences

In nature it floats just below the water’s surface, but in a pond it works best to buy hornwort plants weighted so they sink to the bottom.

From Seattle Times

There are only about 100 known hornwort species.

From Scientific American

Scientists describe a spectacular case this week in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences in which ferns acquired a gene for sensing light from a moss-like plant called hornwort.

From New York Times

The original gene for fern neochrome—the gene that, in all probability, saved ferns from obscurity—formed in a Mesozoic hornwort and then somehow passed to a Mesozoic fern.

From Economist

Other good kinds are hornwort, water starwort, tape grass, water poppy, milfoil, willow moss, and floating plants like duckweed.

From Project Gutenberg