What is "caudex"

Caudex \Cau"dex\, n.; pl. L. Caudices, E. Caudexes. [L.] (Bot.) The stem of a tree., esp. a stem without a branch, as of a palm or a tree fern; also, the perennial rootstock of an herbaceous plant.

n. (context botany English) An enlargement of the stem, branch or root of a woody plant, usually serving to store water.

1. n. persistent thickened stem of a herbaceous perennial plant [syn: stock]

2. woody stem of palms and tree ferns

3. [also: caudices (pl)]

A caudex (plural: caudices) of a plant is a stem, but the term is also used to mean a rootstock and particularly a basal stem structure from which new growth arises.

In the strict sense of the term, meaning a stem, "caudex" is most often used with plants that have a different stem morphology from the typical angiosperm dicotyledon stem: examples of this include palms, ferns, and cycads.

The related term caudiciform, literally meaning stem-like, is sometimes used to mean pachycaul, thick-stemmed.