caespitosum
/kess-pih-TOH-sum/🏷️ Taxonomy●● Intermediate
Also known as: caespitosus, caespitosa
A growth habit epithet for plants that build dense, self-contained tufts or clumps rather than running or spreading. This is the neuter ending, used with neuter genera, and it signals a plant that stays where it is put. Appears as caespitosus (masculine), caespitosa (feminine), or caespitosum (neuter).
Etymology
From Latin caespitosus, meaning "tufted," from caespes/caespitis (turf, clump).
Example
“Geranium caespitosum (pinewoods geranium) and Hieracium caespitosum (yellow hawkweed) both hold themselves in neat basal clumps rather than spreading outward.”