Look up glaucous in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wine grapes with glaucous coating

Glaucous Gull

Plums with some glaucous coating visible

Cryptocarya glaucescens with a glaucous under-leaf

Glaucous (from the Latin glaucous, meaning "bluish-grey or green", from the Greek glaukos) is used to describe the pale grey or bluish-green appearance of the surfaces of some plants, as well as in the names of birds, such as the Glaucous Gull (Larus hyperboreus), Glaucous-winged Gull (Larus glaucescens), Glaucous Macaw (Anodorhynchus glaucus), and Glaucous Tanager (Thraupis glaucocolpa).

The term glaucous is also used botanically as an adjective to mean "covered with a greyish, bluish, or whitish waxy coating or bloom that is easily rubbed off" (e.g. glaucous leaves).

[edit] Examples

The epicuticular wax coating on mature plum fruit gives them a glaucous appearance. Another familiar example is found in the common grape genus (Vitis vinifera). Some cacti have a glaucous coating on their stem(s). Glaucous coatings are hydrophobic, prevent wetting by rain, and hinder climbing of leaves, stem or fruit by insects. On fruits, glaucous coatings may function as a deterrent to climbing and feeding by small insects in favor of increased seed dispersal offered by larger animals such as mammals and birds.

[edit] See also

• Glaucus (disambiguation)

[edit] References

• http://www.thefreedictionary.com/glaucous
• http://wordsmith.org/words/glaucous.html

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