A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

compactus,-a,-um (part.A): thick set, packed together; “compact; dense” (Stearn 1996), lacking e.g. air cavities or other openings or spaces in tissue or structures structures [> L. compingo,-pegi,-pactum, 3, to put together, construct, “ to join or unite several parts into one whole, to put together, frame, make by joining; past. perf. compactus 'constructed,' compact, thick-set, thick, firm” (Lewis & Short)]; see compact (Eng.adj.); see densus,-a,-um (adj.A);

- dense compactus, densely compact.

- foliis sericeo-villosis ob foliola densisime compacta (B&H), with the leaves silken-villous due to the very densely compacted leaflets.

- [Donatia] herbae muscoideae, dense caespitosae, foliosae, ramis brevibus compactis (B&H), herbs resembling mosses, in dense turves, full of leaves, with the branches short, compact [i.e. close together].

- [fungi] pulverem includit grossiusculum farinaceum subcompactum (S&A), it includes within it a rather coarse, farinaceous, somewhat dense powder [i.e. spores].

- [Durmortiera; hepatic] frons intus compacta, sine ullis cavitatibus aeriferis (Lindb.), the frond internally compact, without any air-bearing cavities.

- flores caerulei albi v. rubescentes, in paniculas corymbosas terminales saepius compactas nunc umbelliformes dispositi v. rarius solitarii (B&H), the flowers caerulean blue, white or reddis, in terminal corymbose panicles arranged in compact or sometimes umbelliform [sc. panicles] or rarely [flowers] solitary.

- semina magna, crassa, circa axeos centralis reliquias in globum compactum (B&H), the seeds large, thick, around the remains of the central axis into a compact globe.

Conardia compacta (moss): compact, packed together; from the Latin perfect passive participle compactus, compact, dense, from the verb compingo, to join several parts into one whole; a description of the very broad, densely interwoven turfs of this species once thought to be a more compact form of Amblystegium serpens. Its small and curved somewhat imbricate leaves, delicate stems and fasciculate branches perhaps contribute to its tangled habit.