This is a series of posts on interesting and unusual words and phrases.

The first set of words are adjectives that describe a shape and are often used in botany, mineralogy, and describing artistic forms.

The word for today is falcated: shaped like a scythe, from the Latin, falcatus.

Harris, as quoted by Samuel Johnson, under the word “falcated.” “The enlightened part of the moon appears in the form of a sickle or reapinghook, which is while she is moving from the conjunction to the opposition, or from the new moon to the full: but from full to a new again the enlightened part appears gibbous, and the dark falcated.”

Mareca falcata

With its striking plumage a drake Falcated Duck is one of the most beautiful of all the ducks. It cannot be confused with any other; the long flowing crest and elongated, sickle-shaped tertial feathers giving it a unique appearance. In contrast, the duck is plain and easily overlooked, most closely resembling a female Gadwall. Although a highly distinct species, its behaviour and habits suggest a close affinity to the Gadwall and more distantly to the wigeons.

Falcated Ducks are native to China and Japan, breeding in Eastern and Central Siberia. They are highly migratory, and vagrants have occasionally reached Europe and even Britain, though escapes from captivity cannot be ruled out.

This is series of posts on interesting and unusual words and phrases.

The first set of words are adjectives that describe a shape and are often used in botany, mineralogy, and describing artistic forms.

The word for today is crinoid: shaped like a lily, from the Greek κρίνον + oid, “like”

Crinoids are marine animals that make up the class Crinoidea. Crinoids that are attached to the sea bottom by a stalk in their juvenile form are commonly called sea lilies, while the unstalked forms, called feather starsor comatulids, are members of the largest crinoid order, Comatulida. Crinoids are echinoderms in the phylum Echinodermata, which also includes the starfish, brittle stars, sea urchins and sea cucumbers. They live in both shallow water and in depths as great as 9,000 meters (30,000 ft).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crinoid

https://reefgliders.com/en/blog/fascinating-facts-on-crinoids

This is a series of posts on interesting and unusual words and phrases.

The first set of words are adjectives that describe a shape and are often used in botany, mineralogy, and describing artistic forms.

The word for today is cyathiform: widened at the top, like a cup, from the Greek κυαθος, used in drawing wine from the κρατήρ

In botany, the tulip flower has a cyathiform shape:

This is series of posts on interesting and unusual words and phrases.

The first set of words are adjectives that describe a shape and are often used in botany, mineralogy, and describing artistic forms.

The word for today is crateriform: shaped like a bowl; from the Greek, κρατήρ, for “mixing vessel”

In botany,

This is a series of posts on interesting and unusual words and phrases.

The first set of words are adjectives that describe a shape and are often used in botany, mineralogy, and describing artistic forms.

The word for today is corniculate or corniculated: shaped like a small horn; from the Latin, corniculum, “little horn”, dim. of cornu.

In botany, a flower with a sharp-pointed appendage, resembling, in some degree, a cock’s spur.

Dandelion:

This is series of posts on interesting and unusual words and phrases.

The first set of words are adjectives that describe a shape and are often used in botany, mineralogy, and describing artistic forms.

The word for today is cordate: heart-shaped; from the Latin, cordis, cordatus.

The leaf of the common blue violet:

https://apps.extension.umn.edu/garden/diagnose/weed/broadleaf/basal/blueviolet.html

A pitcher with a cordate handle:

This is series of posts on interesting and unusual words and phrases.

The first set of words are adjectives that describe a shape and are often used in botany, mineralogy, and describing artistic forms.

The word for today is claviform or clavate: club shaped; from the Latin, clava.

Clavate: Widened at the distal end, like a baseball bat or club.

https://gobotany.nativeplanttrust.org/glossary/c/

Clavigerous: bearing a club (clava) or key (clavis).

This is series of posts on interesting and unusual words and phrases.

The first set of words are adjectives that describe a shape and are often used in botany, mineralogy, and describing artistic forms.

The word for today is campanulate: bell shaped; from the Latin, campanula.

Campanulate flower:

This is series of posts on interesting and unusual words and phrases.

The first set of words are adjectives that describe a shape and are often used in botany, mineralogy, and describing artistic forms.

The word for today is botuliform: sausage shaped; long, cylindrical, hollow, incurved at each end; from the Latin, botulus. A sausage maker or dealer was called a botularius.

Botulinum toxin, or botulinum neurotoxin (Commonly called botox), is a highly potent neurotoxic protein produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum and related species. It prevents the release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine from axon endings at the neuromuscular junction, thus causing flaccid paralysis. The toxin causes the disease botulism. The toxin is also used commercially for medical and cosmetic purposes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Botulinum_toxin

The English word, pudding, may have come the L. botulus, through Ital. bodello, through Fr. boudin.

This is series of posts on interesting and unusual words and phrases.

The first set of words are adjectives that describe a shape and are often used in botany, mineralogy, and describing artistic forms.

The word for today is aspergilliform: brush shaped; from the Latin, aspergillum: shaped like a brush.

­An aspergillum (“little sprinkler”, less commonly, aspergilium or aspergil) is a Christian liturgical implement used to sprinkle holy water. It comes in three forms: a freshly cut hyssop branch, a brush-like bundle that is dipped in the holy water and shaken, and a perforated, mace-like metal ball with a handle. Some have sponges or internal reservoirs that dispense holy water when shaken, while others must periodically be dipped in an aspersorium (holy water bucket, known to art historians as a situla). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergillum

Aspergillus is a genus consisting of several hundred mould species found in various climates worldwide.

Aspergillus was first catalogued in 1729 by the Italian priest and biologist Pier Antonio Micheli. Viewing the fungi under a microscope, Micheli was reminded of the shape of an aspergillum (holy water sprinkler), from Latin spargere (to sprinkle), and named the genus accordingly. Aspergillum is an asexual spore-forming structure common to all Aspergillus species; around one-third of species are also known to have a sexual stage. While some species of Aspergillus are known to cause fungal infections, others are of commercial importance. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspergillus

https://www.cdc.gov/fungal/diseases/aspergillosis/causes.html