Perfoliatus
/per-foh-lee-AH-tus/🏷️ Taxonomy●●● Advanced
Also known as: perfoliata, perfoliatum
A morphological epithet describing the unusual perfoliate leaf — where the two basal lobes of the leaf are joined together so completely that the stem appears to pass through the middle of the leaf. It is one of the most structurally distinctive leaf attachments in the plant kingdom. Appears as perfoliatus (masculine), perfoliata (feminine), or perfoliatum (neuter).
Etymology
From Latin per- (through) + folium (leaf) + -atus (having), meaning "through the leaf."
Example
“Claytonia perfoliata (miner's lettuce) has the most dramatic example — the round leaf disc encircles the stem so completely that the plant appears to be growing up through the centre of its own leaf.”