poculiform

English

WOTD – 15 November 2015

A 19th-century glass goblet from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art

A poculiform snowdrop of the species Galanthus plicatus

Etymology

Latin poculum (“cup”) +‎ -form; compare French poculiforme.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɒkjʊlɪfɔːm/

• Audio (Southern England)

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• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈpɑkjəlɪfɔɹm/
• Hyphenation: poc‧u‧li‧form

Adjective

poculiform (comparative more poculiform, superlative most poculiform)

1. Having the shape of a goblet or drinking cup.
   • 1809, William Martin, Outlines of an Attempt to Establish a Knowledge of Extraneous Fossils on Scientific Principles: In Two Parts, Macclesfield, Cheshire: Printed by J. Wilson; sold by the author, Buxton; J. White, Fleet-Street, and Longman, Hurst, Rees, and Orme, London, →OCLC, page 128:

     Poculiform (poculiforme) cylindrically cup-shaped, with the base hemispherical, and but slightly, or not at all, spreading or recurved at the mouth.

   • 1830, Jonathan Stokes, Botanical Commentaries, volume 1, London: Simpkin and Marshall; Treuttel & Würtz, →OCLC, pages 13–14:

     JASMINUM bracteatum […] Calyx pubescent; tube poculiform, subnervose; segments setaceous, erect, as long as the tube.

   • 1866, Thomas Moore, “ASSARACUS”, in John Lindley, Thomas Moore, editors, The Treasury of Botany: A Popular Dictionary of the Vegetable Kingdom; with which is Incorporated a Glossary of Botanical Terms, volume 1, London: Longmans, Green & Co., →OCLC, page 104:

     A subdivision of the genus Narcissus, including N. capax and N. reflexus, in which the segments of the perianth are semi-reflexed, and the coronet poculiform, about equalling the perianth segments.

   • 1961 July 21, James A. G. Rehn with David C. Eades, “The Genus Opshomala of Serville, 1831 (Orthoptera; Acrididae; Cyrtacanthacridinae)”, in Notulae Naturae of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, number 345, page 5:

     [S]ubgenital plate of male poculiform, narrowly rounded at apex as seen from dorsum […]

   • 2013, Freda Cox, “Hybrids, Cultivars, Varieties and Forms”, in Gardener's Guide to Snowdrops, New York, N.Y.: Crowood, →ISBN:

     Poculiforms Known since the nineteenth century, poculiform snowdrops derive their name from the Latin poculus ('little cup'), and were named by the Revd. Henry Harpur-Crew (1828–1883). The inner segments are elongated so that all six flower segments are generally equal in length, forming a rounded, bowl-shaped flower.

   • 2015 February 7, Val Bourne, “The quiet man of the world of snowdrops”, in The Daily Telegraph (London), page G8:

     'The Bride' [a snowdrop variety], found in the early Seventies at Foxcote Farm near Cheltenham, was his first discovery. It's a poculiform (cup-shaped) G. elwesii with six pure white petals of the same length. Like many poculiforms […] it's not a strong grower.

Related terms

• poculum

Noun

poculiform (plural poculiforms)

1. A variety of snowdrop with petals of the same length.
   • 2013, Freda Cox, “Hybrids, Cultivars, Varieties and Forms”, in Gardener's Guide to Snowdrops, New York, N.Y.: Crowood, →ISBN:

     Poculiforms Known since the nineteenth century, poculiform snowdrops derive their name from the Latin poculus ('little cup'), and were named by the Revd. Henry Harpur-Crew (1828–1883). The inner segments are elongated so that all six flower segments are generally equal in length, forming a rounded, bowl-shaped flower.

   • 2015 February 7, Val Bourne, “The quiet man of the world of snowdrops”, in The Daily Telegraph (London), page G8:

     'The Bride' [a snowdrop variety], found in the early Seventies at Foxcote Farm near Cheltenham, was his first discovery. It's a poculiform (cup-shaped) G. elwesii with six pure white petals of the same length. Like many poculiforms […] it's not a strong grower.