brevipedunculata

Brevipedunculata is a descriptive Latin epithet used in scientific names to indicate a characteristic of the plant’s inflorescence: a short peduncle, the stalk that bears the flower or inflorescence. The term combines breve meaning “short” with pedunculus meaning “little stalk.” As an epithet, brevipedunculata is not itself a taxon; it appears as part of a binomial name to distinguish one species within a genus.

In botanical naming, the ending of the epithet agrees with the gender of the genus. Therefore, the form may appear as brevipedunculata, brevipedunculatus, or brevipedunculatum, depending on whether the genus is feminine, masculine, or neuter. This reflects standard Latin grammar applied to species epithets in taxonomy. The descriptive nature of the epithet means it can be applied to multiple, unrelated genera wherever a shorter peduncle is a distinguishing feature.

The trait described by brevipedunculata is comparative and morphological. Peduncles support inflorescences or flowers, and a shorter stalk can affect aspects of display, pollination, or growth habit, contributing to the differential diagnosis used by taxonomists when describing new species. As with other Latin descriptors, brevipedunculata is used across taxa where such a morphological distinction is observed, though it is most commonly encountered in plants and fungi.