caducous

[ kuh-doo-kuh s, -dyoo- ]

/ kəˈdu kəs, -ˈdyu- /

Botany. dropping off very early, as leaves.

Zoology. subject to shedding.

transitory; perishable.

Origin of caducous

1675–85; < Latin cadūcus unsteady, perishable, equivalent to cad(ere) to fall + -ūcus adj. suffix; see -ous

Leaves alternate, compound, digitate, caducous; leaflets 5–7 with long common petiole.

The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines |T. H. Pardo de Tavera
Stipules between the opposite and compound leaves (but they are caducous).

The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States |Asa Gray
Caducous, dropping off very early, compared with other parts; as the calyx in the Poppy, falling when the flower opens.

The Elements of Botany |Asa Gray
Caducous, ka-dū′kus, adj. falling early, as leaves or flowers.

Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) |Various

Flowers yellow, in racemes, with caducous bracts and bractlets.

The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines |T. H. Pardo de Tavera

caducous

/ (kəˈdjuːkəs) /

biology (of parts of a plant or animal) shed during the life of the organism

C17: from Latin cadūcus falling, from cadere to fall

caducous

[ kə-dōō′kəs ]

Detaching or dropping off at an early stage of development. The gills of most amphibians and the sepals or stipules of certain plants are caducous.