Definition

Adjective: * In botany, describing a flower that possesses a floral envelope, also called a perianth. This perianth is the non-reproductive part of the flower and is composed of the calyx (sepals) and/or the corolla (petals). The term is used to contrast with flowers that lack such structures.

Usage

The term is a technical, scientific adjective used almost exclusively in botanical descriptions and classifications to specify the floral morphology. * It is typically used attributively before a noun like "flower." * Its opposite is achlamydeous.

Examples

• Botanists classify most common garden flowers as chlamydeous because they have both sepals and petals.
• The presence of a perianth makes a lily a chlamydeous flower.
• In the plant family Liliaceae, all members have chlamydeous flowers.

Advanced Usage

• The term can be further specified. A flower with both a distinct calyx and corolla is sometimes described as dichlamydeous (having two envelopes), while one with a single, undifferentiated perianth is monochlamydeous (having one envelope). However, both types fall under the broader category of chlamydeous.

Variants and Related Words

• Chlamys (noun): In botany, a rare term for a perianth segment or a small bract. In historical context, it refers to a short cloak worn in ancient Greece, which is the etymological root.
• Perianth (noun): The collective term for the floral envelope (calyx and corolla).
• Calyx (noun): The outermost whorl of the perianth, consisting of sepals.
• Corolla (noun): The whorl of the perianth inside the calyx, consisting of petals.
• Achlamydeous (adjective): The direct antonym, describing a flower lacking a perianth (e.g., flowers in the willow family, ).

Synonyms

• Perianth-bearing (descriptive phrase)
• Having a floral envelope (descriptive phrase)

Antonyms

• Achlamydeous (adjective): Lacking a floral envelope or perianth.

Adjective

1. having a floral envelope or perianth consisting of a calyx and/or corolla