pleiomorphy

pleiomorphy

(ˈplaɪəmɔːfɪ)

[f. pleio- + Gr. µορϕή form + -ια, -y.]

(See also pleomorphy, etc.) In Bot. a. The occurrence of more than one distinct stage or form in the life-cycle of a species, as in certain heterœcious fungi, which pass through two or three stages. b. The state of a flower which is usually irregular, but becomes regular by the multiplication of its irregular elements, so as to form a whorl; = peloria. Hence pleioˈmorphic a., exhibiting or characterized by pleiomorphy; pleioˈmorphism = pleiomorphy (sense a).

in Cent. Dict. in Syd. Soc. Lex.