parvifolium
/par-vih-FOH-lee-um/🏷️ Taxonomy●● Intermediate
Also known as: parvifolius, parvifolia
A leaf shape epithet applied to neuter genera whose leaves are conspicuously small for the group. Small leaves lose less water than large ones, so the epithet turns up often among plants of dry, exposed or alpine ground. Appears as parvifolius (masculine), parvifolia (feminine), or parvifolium (neuter).
Etymology
From Latin parvus (small) + folium (leaf), meaning "small-leaved."
Example
“Eriogonum parvifolium (seacliff wild buckwheat) shows the neuter ending in use, its leaves small in proportion to the plant.”