plumule

American  

[ploom-yool] / ˈplum yul /

noun

1. Botany. the bud of the ascending axis of a plant while still in the embryo.

2. Ornithology. a down feather.

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plumule British  

/ ˈpluːmjuːl /

noun

1. the embryonic shoot of seed-bearing plants

2. a down feather of young birds that persists in some adults

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plumule Scientific  

/ plo̅o̅m′yo̅o̅l /

1. The young shoot of a plant embryo, situated above the cotyledons and consisting of the epicotyl and often of immature leaves.

2. See more at germination

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Other Word Forms

• plumular adjective

Etymology

Origin of plumule

1720–30; < New Latin, Latin plūmula. See plume, -ule

Example Sentences

Within the cotyledons the primordial leaves are seen, constituting the plumule or first bud of the plant.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 "Frost" to "Fyzabad" by Various

Grain of Indian Corn in germination, the ascending sprout is the first leaf of the plumule, enclosing the younger leaves within, at its base the primary root has broken through.

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

In germination the first leaf of the plumule develops only as a sort of sheath, protecting the tender parts within; the second and the third form the first foliage.

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

So it is the stem-portion of the plumule which is at first conspicuous and strong-growing.

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

Embryo like that of Nymphæa on a large scale; cotyledons thick and fleshy, enclosing a plumule of 1 or 2 well-formed young leaves, enclosed in a delicate stipule-like sheath.

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

Related Words

• fringe
• plume