mesarchy

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noun

A vascular system in which development spreads both toward and away from the axis center.

Scrabble 18

Meanings

nounmesarchy (uncountable)
  1. uncountablebiologyA vascular system in which development spreads both toward and away from the axis center.

    Fossil evidence supports neither the view that exarchy is more primitive than mesarchy, nor the view that mesarchy is more primitive than exarchy.

    1952, David William Bierhorst, On the Morphology, Anatomy, and Phylogeny of the Psilotaceae
    2 more examples

    There is no doubt, however, that if endarchy is primitive in the protostelic and immediately derived types, it very rapidly gives place to mesarchy and exarchy in response to various demands, and it is not difficult to show how this may have occurred.

    1908, Sir Arthur George Tansley, Lectures on the Evolution of the Filicinean Vascular System, page 16

    Exarchy, endarchy, and mesarchy are all found within comparatively small groups, and the actual course of evolution seems to affect the position of the protoxylems much more freely and rapidly than in the other great groups of vascular plants.

    2013, Frans Verdoorn, A.H.G. Alston, Manual of Pteridology, →ISBN, page 79

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

mesarchy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mesarchy

MLA

“mesarchy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mesarchy. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “mesarchy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/mesarchy.

Source: mesarchy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.