A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

Unguis,-is (s.m.III), abl. sg. ungue, nom.& acc. pl. ungues, gen. pl. unguium, dat. & abl. pl. unguibus [> L. unguis,-is (s.m.III), ‘a nail of a person’s finger or toe; (of animals) a claw, talon, hoof, (of plants) a nail-like spot, the tip, extremity; a hook” (Lewis & Short)]; see claw; cf. spur;

1. a claw, talon or hoof; “a nail, claw, or hoof on a digit of a vertebrate” (WIII);

- Patria. Hispaniola, in ramis Haematoxyli et Mimosae Unguis cati: Swartz (Mueller), native place. Hispaniola, on the branches of Haematoxylon and Mimosa: the claw of the cat.

MIMOSA Unguis Cati, Cat’s-claw.

2. [perhaps by an effort of the imagination:] claw, narrowed basal part of a petal; “the stalk of a petal” (Lindley); “a claw-like base of a petal, as in Dianthus” (Jackson); “a slender prolonged basal portion of certain petals (as in the pink)” [=Dianthus] (WIII); “a narrow pointed base of a petal” (WIII);

- corolla vexillo ad basem in unguem angustum diminuato, corolla with a standard at the base diminished into a narrow claw.

- vexillum amplum, patens v. reflexum, supra unguem brevem intus nudum, v. callosum, v. rarius auriculis inflexis appendiculatum (B&H), the vexillum large, spreading or reflexed, above the short [unguis, the claw-like base] inside naked, or callose, or more rarely appendiculate with inflexed auricles.

- lamina dilatata ad apicem unguis barbata, the lamina expanded at the apex of the claw, bearded.

- petala alba ungue flavo fovea nectarifera notato (DeCandolle), petals white with a yellow claw marked with a nectariferous pit.

- glandulae 4, subrotundae, ad basín unguium corollae (Swartz), glandules 4, nearly round, at the base of the claws of the corolla.

- vexillum erectum, in unguem contractum, genitalia fovens (B&H), vexillum erect, contracted into a claw, encircling the genitalia [i.e. sex organs].

- petala basi in unguem latam angustata (B&H), petals at the base narrowed into a broad claw.

- capsula cuneata, 2-locularis, ungue elastico dissiliens (Necker), capsule wedge-shaped, 2-loculat, springing apart by means of an elastic claw.

3. fingernail; the length of a fingernail, 1/2 inch, 1.3 cm. (an i-stem noun); “half-an-inch, or the length of the nail of the little finger” (Lindley); “the length of a finger-nail, roughly half an inch” (Jackson); see prong; [DELETE: “Nail: half-an-inch, or the length of the nail of the little finger” (Lindley);

- [alga] folia 6-uncialia vel breviora, unguem lata vel angustiora, linearia, profunde & duplicato-serrata (Agardh), leaves 6-inches or shorter, an unguis [i.e. ½ inch] wide or narrower, linear, deeply and doubly-serrate.

4. the nail-like extremity or tip of an organ, especially of a leaf, such as the excurrent costa in mosses, such as Barbula unguiculata; see prong;

- [Barbula uguiculata; moss] folia nervo crasso carinato flavido excedente mucronata, (C. Muell.), leaves with the nerve [i.e. costa] thick, carinate, yellowish exceeding [i.e. overtopping, excurrent] mucronate.

Apiculus,-i (s.m.II), q.v., abl.sg. apiculo: apiculus, a short, abrupt point.

Cusp, a sharp and rigid point: cuspis,-idis (s.f.III), abl. sg. cuspide.

Mucro, q.v., a short, hard, abrupt apical point which is a continuation of vascular tissue, as the costa in mosses: mucro,-onis (s.m.III).

Tinea unguium [L. unguium (gen.pl.) of the [toe or finger] nails] “a dermatomycosis involving the nails of the hands and feet, caused by Epidermophyton floccosum (Harz) Lang. & Miloch., various species of Trichophyton and Canadida albicans (Robin) Berkhout” (S&D); see tinea,-ae (s.f.I).