What does glaucous mean?

Glaucous came to English—by way of Latin glaucus—from Greek glaukos, meaning “gleaming” or “gray,” and has been used to describe a range of pale colors from a yellow-green to a bluish-gray.

What are glaucous leaves?

Botanical terms that describe the surfaces of leaves and stems: Glaucous: Covered with a whitish powder or waxy coating.

What is glaucous blue?

: a grayish blue that is greener and paler than electric or copenhagen and greener and lighter than Gobelin.

Is glaucous a real color?

Glaucous Glaucous was first used as a color name in 1671, but it’s more than a hue. It describes the powdery—and perfectly harmless—blue-gray or blue-green coating on grapes and plums.

What does the term glaucous mean in botanical terms?

The term glaucous is also used botanically as an adjective to mean “covered with a greyish, bluish, or whitish waxy coating or bloom that is easily rubbed off” (e.g. glaucous leaves).

What kind of fruit has a glaucous coating?

The epicuticular wax coating on mature plum fruit gives them a glaucous appearance. Another familiar example is found in the common grape genus ( Vitis vinifera ). Some cacti have a glaucous coating on their stem (s). Glaucous coatings are hydrophobic so as to prevent wetting by rain.

Which is part of the peduncle is glaucous?

The peduncle, itself, is glaucous and covered in a fine bloom. This example is from Wikipedia and may be reused under a CC BY-SA license. The pinnae are 12 cm long, closely and regularly arranged along the rachis, in the same plane, green on top with gray, glaucous undersides.

Why does a cacti have a glaucous coating?

Some cacti have a glaucous coating on their stem (s). Glaucous coatings are hydrophobic so as to prevent wetting by rain. Their waxy character serves to hinder climbing of leaves, stem or fruit by insects.