ˈphytolith
(ˈfaɪtəlɪθ)
In sense 1 † -lite.
[f. phyto- + -lite, -lith. In F. phytolithe.]
† 1. A fossil plant. Obs.
| 1794 Sullivan View Nat. II. 175 The former are called zoophytes; the latter phytolites. 1849 Murchison Siluria xvi. 402 The so-called ‘transition’ and ‘grauwacke’ phytolites described by various German authors. |
2. A minute mineral particle formed inside a plant.
| 1958 Jrnl. Soil Sci. IX. 154 Nardus stricta..contains phytoliths which could not be mistaken for those from any other of the grasses encountered. 1960 Proc. R. Soc. Victoria LXXII. 21 Phytoliths are important, if not abundant, constituents of dust in Australia. The common varieties are opal-phytoliths, but calcite-phytoliths and quartz-phytoliths have also been detected. 1964 Ann. Bot. XXVIII. 181 In some grasses..the absence or almost complete absence of phytoliths may be a characteristic of the species. 1975 Nature 17 Apr. 588/2 The abundance of opal phytoliths in the midden further indicate that there was then no scarcity of grass and reeds in the immediate vicinity of the site. |
Hence † ˌphytoliˈthology, vegetable palæontology; † ˌphytoliˈthologist, a writer on this subject.
| 1864 in Webster. |