Plural form referring to plants or parts of plants that have no leaves.
From Greek 'a-' (without) + 'phyllon' (leaf) + '-ies' (plural suffix). The medical/botanical term evolved to describe the leafless condition in various species or pathological states.
Cacti and some desert succulents are the ultimate aphyllies—they eliminated leaves entirely to save water, replacing them with spines that serve double duty for protection and reducing surface area.
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