In botany, describing a plant leaf that lacks stipules, which are the small leaf-like appendages at the base of a leaf stem.
From Latin 'a-' (without) + 'stipula' (stem or stalk). The term was formalized in botanical Latin during the 18th century to classify plants by their anatomical features.
Botanists created this word to help identify plants—it's one of hundreds of 'a-' words that basically mean 'the thing you'd expect is missing,' which makes botanical language oddly like a checklist of what NOT to look for.
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