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Definition of "perianth" [per•i•anth]

  • The outer envelope of a flower, consisting of either the calyx or the corolla, or both. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "perianth" in a sentence
  • "In the female flower the perianth is the same as in the former, the stamens sterile."
  • "Applied to a perianth, which is tough, thin, and femi-tranfparent; as in Statice Armaria, or Thrift, Centaurea glaf -"
  • "Many of the recorded instances of so-called metamorphosis of the parts of the flower to sepals have occurred in monocotyledonous plants, or others in which the calyx and corolla are of the same colour, and constitute what is frequently termed the perianth; and as this is usually brightly coloured (not green) it is more convenient to group the metamorphoses in question under the general term Petalody, which thus includes all those cases in which the organs of the flower appear in the form of coloured petal-like organs, whether they be true petals or segments of a coloured perianth."