Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Divided into five parts: Specifically in botany, describing a flower in which each whorl (such as the sepals, petals, stamens) consists of five members, or a multiple of five.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective:
  • The primrose is a classic example of a pentamerous flower.
  • Botanists noted the plant's pentamerous symmetry, with five petals and five sepals.

Advanced Usage

• In Botanical Description: The term is primarily used in technical botanical contexts to describe floral morphology. It implies a specific, regular numerical plan in the flower's construction.
  • The family is characterized by its pentamerous perianth and androecium.

Variants and Related Words

• Pentamer: (Noun) A compound or structure composed of five subunits.
  • The viral capsid is an icosahedron made of pentamers and hexamers.
• Pentamerism: (Noun) The condition of being pentamerous; five-part radial symmetry.
  • The pentamerism of the flower is a key identifying feature.

Synonyms

• Five-parted: Having five parts.
• Quinate: (Botany) Arranged in groups of five.

Antonyms

• Trimerous: Having parts in sets of three.
• Tetramerous: Having parts in sets of four.

Related Phrases / Terms

• Floral Whorl: A circular arrangement of flower parts (e.g., sepals in the calyx, petals in the corolla). Pentamerous describes the number of parts in these whorls.
• Radial Symmetry: Symmetry around a central axis, typical of many pentamerous flowers.

Adjective

1. divided into five parts; specifically, having each floral whorl consist of five (or a multiple of five) members
   • pentamerous flowers