cryptogam Bot.
(ˈkrɪptəʊgæm)
[a. Fr. cryptogame adj. and n., in pl. -games, ad. mod.L. cryptogamæ (sc. plantæ), fem. pl. of cryptogamus, f. Gr. κρυπτός hidden + γάµος wedlock; after the Linnæan class-name cryptogamia.
Brongniart in 1843 first divided the Vegetable Kingdom into Cryptogamæ, and Phanerogamæ, whence F. cryptogames, Eng. cryptogams, etc.]
A plant of the class Cryptogamia.
| 1847 Lindley Veg. Kingd. Pref. 17 The substitution of the words Endogens, Cryptogams, Phænogams, etc., for Endogenæ, Cryptogamæ, Phænogamæ, etc. 1883 H. Drummond Nat. Law in Spir. W. (1884) 412 From the unicellular cryptogam to the highest phanerogam. |