Circinalis
/sir-SIN-a-lis/🏷️ Taxonomy●●● Advanced
Also known as: circinale
A morphological epithet describing the circinate vernation — the characteristic way fern fronds unroll from a tight, circular coil (fiddlehead) — or any plant structure that is coiled in a circle. Appears as circinalis (both genders).
Etymology
From Latin circinalis, meaning "circular" or "compass-drawn," from circinus (a pair of compasses), from circus (circle).
Example
“Cycas circinalis (queen sago) and various ferns carry this epithet for the tightly coiled, circular fiddlehead fronds that unfurl in the characteristic circinate fashion the name describes.”