Cupule
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cupule
[′kyü‚pyül] (botany)
The cup-shaped involucre characteristic of oaks.
A cup-shaped corolla.
The gemmae cup of the Marchantiales.
(invertebrate zoology)
A small sucker on the feet of certain male flies.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
The following article is from The Great Soviet Encyclopedia (1979). It might be outdated or ideologically biased.
Cupule
an organ that surrounds an entire fruit or only the base of a fruit. The cupule is formed by the proliferation of the fused bract and bractlets of pistillate flowers (for example, in the filbert and hornbeam). It may also be formed by the proliferation of the axils of the inflorescence on which the bracts and bractlets of undeveloped flowers appear in the form of nodules, scales, or needles (for example, in the oak). In the beech and chestnut, the axil of the inflorescence, in addition to the leaves, may take part in the formation of the cupule.
The Great Soviet Encyclopedia, 3rd Edition (1970-1979). © 2010 The Gale Group, Inc. All rights reserved.