inferior ovary

American  

noun

1. Botany. an ovary positioned below the receptacle of a flower, as in members of the iris family.

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Etymology

Origin of inferior ovary

First recorded in 1875–80

Example Sentences

On the other hand, the occasional formation of a leaf on the inferior ovary of those plants would indicate the axial nature of the fruit.

From Vegetable Teratology An Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants by Masters, Maxwell T.

The ordinary structure of the flower with its three sepals, two petals, labellum, column; and inferior ovary, is well known.

From Vegetable Teratology An Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants by Masters, Maxwell T.

Herbs, with irregular flowers, one petal, the lip, differing from the others in size and shape, inferior ovary, and one or two stamens adherent to the style. 1a.

From The Plants of Michigan Simple Keys for the Identification of the Native Seed Plants of the State by Gleason, Henry Allan

It is probable that in many of these cases the so-called inferior ovary is partly axial partly foliar, i.e., sepaline, and partly carpellary in its nature.

From Vegetable Teratology An Account of the Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants by Masters, Maxwell T.

United, as the inferior ovary with the calyx-tube.

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