Definition of "valvate" [valv•ate]

• Having valvelike parts. (adjective)
• Botany Meeting at the edges without overlapping, as some petals do. (adjective)
• Botany Opening by valves, as the capsule of a lily or iris. (adjective)

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.

• "_Combretum_ presents several points in common with Rhamneae; valvate calyx, and tendency to want of petals; to Elaeagneae in calyx and furfuraceous scales; a decandrous Rhamneae would differ but little in flowers from Combretum."
• "To Santalaceae they approach in processes, valvate corolla, and placentation, also to Loranthaceae."
• "I may remark, that the aestivation of Kydia is scarcely valvate."