Cyathium

/siˈæθiəm/ noun

Definition

A specialized flower cluster in the plant family Euphorbiaceae that resembles a cup and contains male and female flowers.

Etymology

Latin diminutive of cyathus (cup), from Greek kyathos, used in botanical terminology since the 18th century when botanists needed precise terms for the unique flower structures of spurge plants.

Kelly Says

The cyathium was such a weird flower design that botanists invented a whole new word for it—it's basically the plant world's way of creating a flower inside a flower, fooling insects into pollinating multiple flowers at once!

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