musciform

English

Etymology 1

From Latin mūscus (“moss”) +‎ -iform.

Adjective

musciform (comparative more musciform, superlative most musciform)

1. (botany) Having the appearance or form of a moss.

   The surface had an irregular, musciform quality, interrupted by various ridges and valleys.

   • 1832, Carl Ludwig Giesecke, A Descriptive Catalogue of a New Collection of Minerals in the Museum of the Royal Dublin Society‎^[1], Dublin: R. Graisberry, page 129:

     8. Native Gold, of a bright gold-yellow colour, in musciform leaves, upon saxum metalliferum; from the same place (very rich.)

   • 1871, Theodore Hilgard, “Investigations on the Development of the Yeast, or Zymotic Fungus.”, in Proceedings of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (Nineteenth Meeting)‎^[2], Cambridge, Massachusetts: Joseph Lovering, page 310:

     ...they connect with the theciferous, partly "peristomiate," and radiately divided (hence musciform) group of fungi...

   • 1880, Henri Baillon, The Natural History of Plants‎^[3], volume VI, London: L. Reeve & Co., page 118:

     Kelleria and Drapetes are humble subshrubby and caespitose, musciform plants, with sessile and imbricate leaves.

Etymology 2

From Musca +‎ -form.

Adjective

musciform (comparative more musciform, superlative most musciform)

1. Having the form or structure of flies of the genus Musca or family Muscidae.

   The insect had a distinctly musciform appearance, although its shiny, golden colouration was altogether more agreeable.

   • 1918, J. R. Malloch, “A Preliminary Classification of Diptera, Exclusive of Pupipara, Based upon Larval and Pupal Characters”, in Bulletin of the Illinois State Laboratory of Natural History‎^[4], volume XII, Urbana, page 401:

     Larva.—Length, 7–9 mm. White, head black. General shape musciform, tapered anteriorly, blunt posteriorly.

   • 1925, A. D. Imms, A General Textbook of Entomology‎^[5], London: Methuen & Co., page 657:

     They hatch out into musciform larvae which feed upon the nutriment collected by the bees for their own larvae.

   • 1965, Fritz Zumpt, Myiasis in Man and Animals in the Old World: A Textbook for Physicians, Veterinarians, and Zoologists‎^[6], Butterworths, page 8:

     In many musciform flies the first two segments are also fused...

References

• “musciform”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.