Aduncus
/a-DUN-kus/🏷️ Taxonomy●● Intermediate
Also known as: adunca, aduncum
A morphological epithet for a part that bends sharply back on itself so that it ends in a hook - a thorn, the beak of a seed pod, or the tip of a leaf. It sits close to hamatus, another Latin word for hooked, and in a plant name it usually marks the single feature that separates the species from its near relatives. Appears as aduncus (masculine), adunca (feminine), or aduncum (neuter).
Etymology
From Latin aduncus, meaning "bent, curved, hooked, crooked".
Example
“Viola adunca (early blue violet) is the plant most often met under this epithet, taking the feminine ending to agree with its genus.”