proteranthous

Adjective

proteranthous (not comparable)

1. (rare) Of a plant: having flowers that appear earlier than the leaves.
   • Proteranthous (-us). Where flowering precedes leafing.[1879, Asa Gray, Gray’s Botanical Text-book. Vol. I. Structural Botany or Organography on the Basis of Morphology. […], 6th edition, New York, N.Y.; Cincinnati, Oh.: American Book Company from the...
   • The prevernal period begins with the first blooming after the period of rest, and lasts until the foliation of the proteranthous trees, altogether hardly more than two weeks.1898, Roscoe Pound, Fredreric E[dward] Clements, “The Vegetation Forms of the Flora”, in The Phytogeography of Nebraska. 1. General Survey, 2nd edition, Lincoln, Neb.: […] [T]he [Botanical] Seminar...
2. (rare) Of a plant: having leaves that appear earlier than the flowers.
   • Proteranthous; when leaves appear before the flowers.[1836, Asa Gray, “Glossology”, in Elements of Botany, New York, N.Y.: G. & C. Carvill & Co., →OCLC, page 380
   • In hysteranthous plants, the photosynthesis rate is very low from flower emergence until anthesis. […] In contrast, in proteranthous growth the foliage dies down before the flower is produced and photosynthesis takes place before flowering[…].2012 July 16, Rina Kamenetsky, “Biodiversity of Geophytes: Phytogeography, Morphology, and Survival Strategies”, in Rina Kamenetsky, Hiroshi Okubo, editors, Ornamental Geophytes: From Basic Science...