Orthostichies

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Vertical rows along a plant stem in which leaves, scales or florets are arranged one directly above another in a regular pattern
2. The straight lines formed when leaves or other organs on a stalk line up vertically, one above the next, around the axis
3. Aligned vertical series of parts on a stem, such as leaves or scales, that run upward in a consistent spiral or cycle

Etymology: "Orthostichies" is the plural of "orthostichy," a botanical term for a vertical row of leaves, scales or other organs on a plant stem, as seen in pinecones or cacti. The plural follows the Greek-derived pattern of words ending in "-y," where the plural takes "-ies." The word is built from two Greek elements. The first, "orthos," means "straight" or "upright," and appears in English words such as "orthodox" and "orthogonal." The second, "stichos," means "row" or "line," which also gives English "distich" (a pair of lines of verse) and "stichometry" (the measuring of text by lines). Together they describe exactly what the term names: organs lined up in straight rows along a stem. Because the term is a technical coinage built from classical Greek roots, it was created by botanists rather than inherited from ancient writers. Ancient Greek speakers had no word of this exact form for the arrangement of plant parts.