hornwort

[ hawrn-wurt, -wawrt ]
/ ˈhɔrnˌwɜrt, -ˌwɔrt /

noun

any aquatic plant of the genus Ceratophyllum, found in ponds and slow streams.

Origin of hornwort

First recorded in 1795–1805; horn + wort2

Example sentences from the Web for hornwort

  • It is the Hornwort (Ceratophyllum) gently wriggling or moving from side to side.

    The Romance of Plant Life |G. F. Scott Elliot

British Dictionary definitions for hornwort

hornwort
/ (ˈhɔːnˌwɜːt) /

noun

any aquatic plant of the genus Ceratophyllum, forming submerged branching masses in ponds and slow-flowing streams: family Ceratophyllaceae
any of a group of bryophytes belonging to the phylum Anthocerophyta, resembling liverworts but with hornlike sporophytes

Scientific definitions for hornwort

hornwort
[ hôrnwûrt′, -wôrt′ ]

Any of about 100 species of small bryophyte plants belonging to the phylum Anthocerophyta. Unlike liverworts but like mosses, hornwort sporophytes have stomata. The hornwort gametophyte consists of a low thallus, out of which numerous slender, upright sporophytes tipped with sporangia grow. The sporophyte has a meristem that elongates the sporophyte with new growth, a feature that distinguishes the plant from the other bryophytes. The name of the hornworts was suggested by the hornlike appearance of the sporophytes. See more at bryophyte.