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Spicatus

/spy-KAH-tus/
🏷️ Taxonomy●● Intermediate

Also known as: spicata, spicatum

A floral arrangement epithet describing flowers borne in spikes — dense, elongated clusters where the individual flowers attach directly to the main axis without individual stalks. Spike-bearing plants often have a bold, architectural quality. Appears as spicatus (masculine), spicata (feminine), or spicatum (neuter).

Etymology

From Latin spica (an ear of grain, a spike) + -atus (possessing).

Example

Veronicastrum virginicum (Culver's root) and Liatris spicata (blazing star) both produce the tall, dense flower spikes that give the spicatus epithet its visual justification.