pap·pus

(păp′əs)

n. pl. pap·pi (păp′ī)

A modified calyx, composed of scales, bristles, or featherlike hairs, in plants of the composite family, such as the dandelion and the thistle.

[Latin, old man, down on certain seeds, from Greek pappos; see papa in Indo-European roots.]

pap′pose (-ōs) adj.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

pappus

(ˈpæpəs)

n, pl pappi (ˈpæpaɪ)

(Botany) a ring of fine feathery hairs surrounding the fruit in composite plants, such as the thistle; aids dispersal of the fruits by the wind

[C18: via New Latin, from Greek pappos grandfather, old man, old man's beard, hence: pappus, down]

ˈpappose, ˈpappous adj

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

pap•pus

(ˈpæp əs)

n., pl. pap•pi (ˈpæp aɪ)

a downy, bristly, or other tuftlike appendage of the achene of certain plants, as the dandelion and thistle.

[1695–1705; < New Latin < Greek páppos down, literally, grandfather (taken as greybeard, white hairs, down)]

pap′pose (-oʊs) adj.

pap′pous (-əs) adj.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Noun

pappus - calyx composed of scales or bristles or featherlike hairs in plants of the Compositae such as thistles and dandelions

calyx - (botany) the whorl of sepals of a flower collectively forming the outer floral envelope or layer of the perianth enclosing and supporting the developing bud; usually green

thistledown - pappus of a thistle consisting of silky featherlike hairs attached to the seed-like fruit of a thistle

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References in periodicals archive

Lockhart employs this resourcefully in determining the volumes and surface area of a sphere and a torus, the latter result first appearing in a work by Pappus.

A MATHEMATICIAN'S LAMENT: How School Cheats Us Out of Our Most Fascinating and Imaginative Art Form

This can be achieved using the second theorem of Pappus, that states: "The volume V of a solid of revolution generated by the revolution of a lamina about an external axis is equal to the product of the area A of the lamina and the distance d traveled by the lamina's geometric centroid [bar.x]" [12].

Prediccion de Resistencia Axial en Barras Cilindricas Solidas y Huecas Torsionadas

most students have limited knowledge about configurations--except perhaps the Pappus (9,3), the Desargue (10,3), and the Petersen graph (the logo on the cover of the Journal of Graph Theory)."

MORE CONFIGURATION PUZZLE-GAMES

Fruit dry nut (achene) often with hairs on top (pappus) with inner wall.

Weeds Surveyof Developing Agricultural Crops in Al-Shafa Area of Saudi Arabia

Each flower head produces [approximately equal to] 73 seeds (mean), which are up to 4 mm long (Turner and Herr 1996) and with a pappus (set of bristles) that aids dispersal.

Status of the endangered Chorro Creek bog thistle Cirsium fontinale var. obispoense (Asteraceae) in Coastal Central California

Ramas laterales de la inflorescencia generalmente mas desarrollados que el eje principal; filarias blanquecinas inte-riormente; capitulo mas de 10 mm diametro, pappus blanco o rosado C.

Las Asteraceas (Compositae) del distrito de Laraos (Yauyos, Lima, Peru)

Pappus and cipsela ontogeny in Asteraceae: structure considerations of the tribal category.

Seed characters and their usefulness in the separation of Asteraceae species/Caracteres de sementes e sua utilidade na separacao de especies de Asteraceae