A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

diffusus,-a,-um (part.A): diffuse, spread abroad, spread out, extended; diffuse, loosely, irregularly, loosely or widely spreading, dispersed, with branches diverging from axis at an angle of 45*-90*; “widely or loosely spreading” (Jackson; also Ainsworth & Bisby); “widely or loosely spreading” (Fernald 1950) [> L. diffundo, -fudi, -fusum 3. to spread by pouring, to pour out (as wine, tears, latex, sap), to pour forth; to scatter, diffuse]; see spreading; cf. repens,-entis (part.B), repent, creeping and rooting at the nodes; opp. ‘compact,’ q.v.;

NOTE: in botany ‘effusus,-a,-um (part.A)’ appears to be a synonym: effuse, spread out flat, without definite form, as in lichens (WIII); diffusus seems to be more used for shrubs: (of branches) spreading widely or loosely, spreading in all directions, straggling. Effusus seems more used for branching organs, such as umbels, panicles, etc.; see effusus,-a,-um (part.A). Effusus is used by Nylander in lichens more than diffusus;

- vinum ex dolio in amphoram diffusum, wine poured out from a cask into a pitcher [i.e. amphora].

- (fungus) BOTRYTIS: B. diffusa nobis. B. candida ramosa , ramis longe lateque diffusis, ramulis undique in racemos dispositis, racemuligeris (S&A), Botrytis diffusa [described] by us. A much-branched B. candida, with the branches longly and widely out-spread, with the branchlets arranged in every direction into racemes, bearing racemules [i.e. little racemes].

- [Eutaxia diffusa] Multicaulis, ramosissima, inermis, diffusa,many-stemmed, highly branched, unarmed, straggling

- species secus Oceani Atlantici oras Europeas Africanasque et circa mare Mediterraneum late diffusa, a species along the coasts European and African of the Atlantic Ocean and around the Mediterranean Sea widely diffused.

- una sola per Americam australem late diffusa (B&H), only one throughout South America broadly distributed.

- flores diffusi vel divaricati, flowers widely or loosely spreading.

- peste genus quondam late diffusum exterminanti, with a disease exterminating the genus once broadly distributed.

- herbae suffruticesve, aquaticae repentes v. diffusae (B&H), herbs or subshrubs, aquatic, creeping or diffuse [widely branching].

- herbae erectae, diffusae v. scandentes (B&H), herbs erect, spread out or climbing.

- herbae nunc erectae rhizomate tuberoso, v. caespitosae, nunc tenerae, diffusae v. cirrhoso-scandentes, herbs sometimes erect with a tuberous rhizome or caespitose, sometimes delicate, spread-out or cirrhose-climbing.

- [Viola] caulibus numerosis diffusis basi nudis gracilibus (Boissier), with the stems numerous, straggling, at the base naked, slender.

- caulibus procumbentibus diffusis (Boissier), with the stems procumbent, straggling.

Diffusus color: “ a ‘run’ color” (Lindley); “a color which has “run” into the surrounding tissues” (Jackson); (perhaps a spreading, seeping, staining or ‘bleeding’ color);

- [lichen] quoque ad ligna quercina, sicut typus Acharii, sed thallo evanescente vel nonnisi macula diffusa alba indicato (Nyl.), and also on oak woods, just as Acharius’ type, but with the thallus disappearing or only revealed by a spreading white spot.

Radix,-icis (s.f.III) diffusa, abl.sg. radice diffusa: Diffuse Root: "Any member of a dense system of adventitious, slender roots that arise from the base of a main stem and functionally replace an evanescent primary root" (Kiger & Porter 2001).

Equisetum arvense L. fo. diffusum (A.A.Eat.) Clute, a form with diffuse branching; Phyllota diffusa.