rheotropism

[ ree-o-truh-piz-uhm ]

noun

1. the effect of a current of water upon the direction of plant growth.

rheotropism

/ rɪˈɒtrəˌpɪzəm; ˌriːəˈtrɒpɪk /

noun

1. growth of a plant or sessile animal in the direction of a current of water

Derived Forms

• rheotropic, adjective

Other Words From

• rhe·o·trop·ic [ree-, uh, -, trop, -ik, -, troh, -pik], adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of rheotropism¹

First recorded in 1885–90; rheo- + -tropism

Example Sentences

Several kinds of tropisms are recognized, such as phototropism or heliotropism, reaction to light; thermotropism, reaction to heat; electrotropism or galvanotropism, to electric current; geotropism, to gravity; chemotropism, to a chemical; rheotropism, to current; thigmotropism or stereotropism, to contact; and chromotropism, to color.

From Project Gutenberg

Here, too, must be classed also all the innumerable phenomena of Heliotropism, Geotropism, Rheotropism, Chemotropism, and other tropisms, in which the sun, or the earth, or currents, or chemical stimuli so affect a form of life—plant, alga, or spore—that it disposes its own movements or the arrangements of its parts accordingly, turning towards, or away from, or in an oblique direction to the source of stimulus, or otherwise behaving in some definite manner which could not have been deduced or predicted from the direct effects of the stimulating factors.

From Project Gutenberg