The Collaborative International Dictionary
Rugosa \Ru*go"sa\, n. pl. [NL. See Rugose.] (Paleon.) An extinct tribe of fossil corals, including numerous species, many of them of large size. They are characteristic of the Paleozoic formations. The radiating septs, when present, are usually in multiples of four. See Cyathophylloid.
Wikipedia
The Rugosa, also called the Tetracoralla, are an extinct order of coral that were abundant in Middle Ordovician to Late Permian seas.
Solitary rugosans (e.g., Caninia, Lophophyllidium, Neozaphrentis, Streptelasma) are often referred to as horn corals because of a unique horn-shaped chamber with a wrinkled, or rugose, wall. Some solitary rugosans reached nearly a meter in length. However, some species of rugose corals could form large colonies (e.g., Lithostrotion). When radiating septa were present, they were usually in multiples of four, hence Tetracoralla in contrast to modern Hexacoralla, colonial polyps generally with sixfold symmetry.
Rugose corals have a skeleton made of calcite that is often fossilized. Like modern corals ( Scleractinia), rugose corals were invariably benthic, living on the sea floor or in a reef-framework. Some symbiotic rugose corals were endobionts of Stromatoporoidea, especially in the Silurian. Although there is no direct proof, it is inferred that these Palaeozoic corals possessed stinging cells to capture prey. They also had tentacles to help them catch prey. Technically they were carnivores, but prey-size was so small they are often referred to as microcarnivores.
Usage examples of "rugosa".
The backyard, as concise as the house, is enclosed by a scrim of privet hedge and monopolized by flowerbeds: peonies in late, tempestuous bloom, trellised veils of clematis and rugosa roses, gladiolas hinting at the colors sheathed in their spearlike buds.
However, crossing over the Adriatic and going via Rugosa down the old Roman Road to Constantinople is out of the question these days.
Lavender on the air, rugosa roses, and another earthy rich scent she struggled to identify.
He walked over and put his arms around her, her dark hair a perfumed net that drew him in until he felt dizzy and had to draw back, gasping a little, the smell of her nearly overwhelming that of rugosa roses and the sea.
He was looking through the boughs of a weigelia and a big rugosa rose.
But her childhood friend and university acquaintance, Robbie Turner, was on his knees, weeding along a rugosa hedge, and she did not feel like getting into conversation with him.
The backyard, as concise as the house, is enclosed by a scrim of privet hedge and monopolized by flowerbeds: peonies in late, tempestuous bloom, trellised veils of clematis and rugosa roses, gladiolas hinting at the colors sheathed in their spearlike buds.
Gli alberi erano alti, con la corteccia rugosa quasi nera, aghi dello stesso colore, e radici nodose che spuntavano dal terreno come ginocchia nude.