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aril
(redirected from ariled)

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.06 sec.

aril

Special covering of certain seeds that commonly develops from the seed stalk. It is often a bright-coloured fleshy envelope, as in such woody plants as the yews and nutmeg and in members of the arrowroot family, oxalis, and the castor-oil plant. Animals are attracted to arils and eat the seeds, dispersing them in their wastes. The aril of nutmeg is the source of the spice known as mace.


aril [′ar·əl]
(botany)
An outgrowth of the funiculus in certain seeds that either remains as an appendage or envelops the seed.


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