Eurosid

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A flowering plant belonging to the eurosid group, a large branch of the rosid clade that includes legumes, roses and many other families
2. Any member of the eurosids, a major lineage of flowering plants within the rosids that encompasses a wide variety of families
3. A plant classified within the eurosid clade, one of the two main groups of rosids and home to many familiar crops and trees

Etymology: Rosids are a large group of flowering plants, named after the rose family, Rosaceae, whose genus "Rosa" comes from the Latin word for rose. Plant classifiers then split the rosids into smaller clades, and one of these is the eurosids. The name combines "rosid" with the Greek prefix "eu-", which means "true" or "well," so the eurosids are the core of the rosid group. Taxonomists use this name for a clade defined by DNA evidence rather than by shared visible features. Eurosids include familiar plants such as roses, oaks, cabbages, and legumes. Because the name is a modern coinage from plant systematics, its usage is tied to changing classification schemes, and different systems draw the boundaries of the group in slightly different ways.