Laxus
/LAK-sus/🏷️ Taxonomy●● Intermediate
Also known as: laxa, laxum
A form epithet meaning the plant's parts — flower clusters, foliage, or overall habit — are loosely and openly arranged rather than dense, packed, or compact. Lax plants have an airy, unforced quality. Appears as laxus (masculine), laxa (feminine), or laxum (neuter).
Etymology
From Latin laxus, meaning "loose," "open," "not tight," or "slack," related to laxare (to loosen).
Example
“Festuca laxa and Poa laxa are mountain grasses with the loose, widely-spaced florets that distinguish them from the denser, more compact panicles of related species — their lax arrangement an elegant openness.”