Palmata

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. A term used to describe a leaf or structure that is divided into several lobes that radiate from a central point
2. Referring to a plant or feature that has characteristics resembling the shape of a hand, with fingers extending outward
3. Designating a botanical form having parts arranged like an open hand, often used in the context of certain species or varieties

Etymology: Palmata comes from Latin "palmatus," meaning "palm-shaped" or "like an open hand," and that Latin word derives from "palma," the palm of the hand. The Romans also used "palma" for the palm tree, whose broad fronds were thought to resemble an outstretched hand, so the same root covers both the body part and the plant. The adjective entered botanical Latin as a descriptive term, and naturalists applied it to leaves and other organs that spread out from a central point like fingers. In English, "palmate" is the usual form, and "palmata" appears mainly in scientific names, where it marks a species or variety with that kind of leaf. The most familiar example is Acer palmatum, the Japanese maple, whose leaves have five to nine lobes radiating from the petiole. Because the epithet is a Latin adjective, it takes the feminine ending "-a" when it modifies a feminine genus name, a grammatical detail that explains why the form looks different from the English word.

Synonyms: palmate, hand-shaped, lobed, spread, webbed

Antonyms: simple, unlobed, linear, narrow, unwebbed