Punctatus
/punk-TAH-tus/🏷️ Taxonomy●● Intermediate
Also known as: punctata, punctatum
A texture and marking epithet describing a surface covered in minute dots — often translucent glands visible when a leaf is held to the light, or small colored dots creating a fine-grained pattern. Appears as punctatus (masculine), punctata (feminine), or punctatum (neuter).
Etymology
From Latin punctatus, meaning "dotted" or "pointed," from punctum (a point, dot), from pungere (to prick).
Example
“Hypericum perforatum (St John's wort) has famously punctate leaves — the translucent oil glands that appear as tiny holes when held to the light are the most celebrated example of this dot-marked surface.”