Psilotum
/saɪˈloʊtəm/noun
A genus of rootless, fern-like vascular plants commonly known as whisk ferns.
Did you know?Psilotum appears almost leafless and rootless, but its supposedly primitive design is a specialized modern adaptation rather than proof that it is an unchanged living fossil.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Greek
Greek
ψιλός (psilós)
“Bare, naked, smooth, or stripped”
Ancient Greek
Greek
ψιλόω (psilóō)
“To make bare or strip away”
18th Century
Scientific Latin
Psilotum
“A taxonomic name formed from Greek psilós, referring to the plant’s reduced, apparently naked structure”
1753
Scientific Latin
Psilotum
“The genus name formally published by Carl Linnaeus in Species Plantarum”
Modern English
English
Psilotum
“A genus of whisk ferns, including Psilotum nudum, the naked or forked whisk fern”
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