A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

Calx, gen. sg. calcis (s.f. or m.III), acc. sg. calcem, abl. sg. calce, nom. & acc. pl. calces;

1. the heel, heelbone (os calcis); the foot;

2. (in architecture) the foot of structures, such as of pillars, as of a staircase; the foot of a mast (Lewis and Short); see caltrop; see tribulus,-i (s.m.II)

3. lime, chalk or limestone; calx = the crumbly residue left after a mineral or metal has been calcined or roasted; “a small stone used in gaming, a counter; limestone, lime, whether slaked or not; quicklime; see stone;

NOTE: limus,-i (s.m.II), q.v., slime, mud, mire; dirt, filth; silt, has no etymological relationship to the Eng. word ‘lime.’

- [lichen] saxicolae ad càlcem non occurrunt (Nyl.), saxicolous, it does not occur on limestone.

- caules calce bacteriisque incrustati, stems encrusted with lime and bacteria.

- caules calce alba dense incrustati, stems encrusted with white lime densely encrusted.

- sparsam gregariamque, luti vetusti calce obducti fragmentis innatam (S&A), sparse and gregarious, adherent to fragments of old mud covered over with lime.

- [fungi] situs rarius subsparsus: plerumque arcte congestus, caespitulis saepe longe lateque effusis, carbonaria paene tota obducentibus, interdum materie alba (bysso forsan quadam) veluti calce vestitis (S&A), the disposition [i.e. the manner of lying] more rarely somewhat scattered: usually tightly congested, with the little clumps often spread out far and wide, covering over nearly total charred [sc. places], sometimes with the substance white (perhaps a certain ‘cotton’ [i.e. mycelium]), clothed as with chalk [i.e.lime].

- [lichen] In Pyrenaeis procedit usque in regionem subalpinam, ibi obveniens ad saxa calcis transitionis cum Lecidea candida haud procul a Luchon (Nyl.), it advances in the Pyrenees as far p into the subalpine region, occurring at that place on stones of limestone, of a transition with Lecidea candida hardly distant according to Luchon.

- [lichen] ad calcem in America septentriónali (Nyl.), on limestone in north America.

- [lichen] ad terram particulis calcis admixtam in Europa boreali (Nyl.) on earth mixed with particles of limestone in northern Europe.

- [lichen] ad calcem primitivae formationis quoque in Suecia (ad Salam ). Ad saxa calcis jurassicae ex. gr, in monte Pic Saint-Loup regionis Monspeliensis (Nyl.), on limestone of a primitive formation also in Sweden (at Sala). On stones of jurassic limestone, for example, in the mountain Pic Saint-Loup of the Montpelier region.

4. “the goal, end, or limit in the race-course (anciently marked with lime or chalk), opp. carceres, the starting point” (Lewis & Short).

5. the end, conclusion of a page, book, or writing (Lewis & Short); the end of a passage of literature, such as the ‘bottom’ of a paragraph; the conclusion, concluding part; often ‘notes’, an observation or annotation at the end of, e.g. an Order, Family, or species description in a manuscript; see footnote; cf. caput,-itis (s.n.III), the head, and capitulum,-i (s.n.II), abl.sg. capitulo: both meaning a chapter (in a text); see chapter.

NOTE: cf. footnote (Eng. noun): “1. a note of reference, explanation, or comment placed below the text on a printed page or underneath a table or chart. 2. an utterance or action that is subordinated or added to a larger statement or event: commentary, afterthought (WIII).

NOTE: cf. endnote (Eng. noun) “a note placed at the end of the text (as of an article or chapter)” (WIII).

- CROSSOSOMA, Torr., primum Ranunculaceis adscriptum, nunc ad calcem Dilleniacearum collocatur (B&H), Crossoma, Torr., first ascribed to the Ranunculaceae, is at present placed at the end [i.e. endnote] of the Dilleniaceae.

- genera quae ob characteres mancos v. falsos haud recognoscere nec in systemate collocare potuimus, ad calcem synopseos cujusve Ordinis inter genera dubia enumeravimus (B&H); genera which, because of imperfect or false characters, we were unable to recognize or to place into a system, we ennumerate at the end [‘foot’]of the synopsis or of its Order among the dubious genera.

- has ex eo, quod in praefamine exposuimus, instituto ad generis calcem subjectas ulteriori mycophilorum indagini commendatas velimus, these (species) from that plan which we explained in the preface, we would wish subordinated to the end of the genus, entrusted to the further investigations of mycophiles [i.e. mycologists].

- [fungi] Obs. Civium ambiguorum in genere locupletissimo haud exigua prostat cohors: e quibus memoratu digniores ad calcem Sectionum suarum enumeramus (S&A), Observation. A cohort [i.e. division] hardly poor in numbers stands out in a genus richest in ambiguous constituents: from which the more worthy of mention we enumerate at the endnote of its own Section.

- [Pediastrum; algae] ?Helierella Napoleonis Turpin in Mém. d. Mus. d'hist. nat. XVI (1827) p. 318. tab. XIII. f. 21. (Figura dubiis vexata et interpretatione varia torquata, quam ad calcem huius speciei explicare conabor) (Braun), (the figure is [vexed, troubled, damaged] by uncertainties and twisted with different interpretation, which I shall attempt to uncoil at the [endnote] of this species).

- [fungi] Obs. Civium ambiguorum in genere locupletissimo haud exigua prostat cohors: e quibus memoratu digniores ad calcem Sectionum suarum enumeramus (S&A), Observation. A cohort [i.e. division] hardly poor in numbers stands out in a genus richest in ambiguous constituents: from which the more worthy of mention we enumerate at the endnote of its own Section.