Meanings
- uncountablebiologyThe production of flowers which do not open and are self-fertilized in the bud.
1 more example
In a species that produces fruits from self-pollination and from cross-pollination, self-pollinated fruits generally produce many more seeds than fruits produced from cross-pollination. This suggests the likelihood that cleistogamy arose in those species because cross-pollination was not always effective.
2001, Richard Dwight Porcher, Douglas Alan Rayner, A Guide to the Wildflowers of South Carolina, University of South Carolina, page 47
Origin
- Ancient Greekκλειστός“closed”
- Englishcleistogamy
From Ancient Greek κλειστός (kleistós, “closed”) + -gamy.
More words from Ancient Greek
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Irish cléisteagamacht
- cléisteagamachtthe production of flowers which do not open, and are self-fertilized in the bud
Cite this entry
cleistogamy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cleistogamy
“cleistogamy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cleistogamy. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cleistogamy,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cleistogamy.
Source: cleistogamy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.