A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

Caespes,-itis (s.m.III), abl. sg. caespite, nom. & acc. pl. caespites, dat. & abl. pl. caespitibus; also cespes,-itis (s.m.III), abl. sg. cespite: tuft, sod, that is, a piece of turf, q.v., 'grass that has been cut, turf, a clump of plants, grassy sward' (caespes gramineus); in reference to a manner of growth: cluster, clusters, also clumps as of grasses; see caespitosus,-a,-um (adj.A); cf. teges,-etis (s.f.III), mat, rug, covering; cf. cushion; see tuft, weft; see mat;

- [moss] Patria: Kaiser-Franz-Josefs-Fjord inter 73° et 74° lat. bor. unde cespes singularis retulit Dr. Pansch., Native land: Kaiser Franz Josefs Fyord between 73* and 74* lat. bor. [acc.sg. latitudinem borealem] from where [i.e. whence] Dr. Pansch brought back a single clump.

- caulibus basi lignosis in caespitem densum durumque congestis (Boissier), with the stems at the base woody, congested into a dense and hard clump.

- segmentis inferioribus caespites novos frondium formantibus, the lower segments forming new tufts [i.e. clusters] of fronds.

- plantae caespites adherentes arctos atro-virentes formantes, plants forming tight adherent dark green turfs (sods).

- caespes pulvinati, irregulares vel amorphi, turfs pulvinate, irregular or shapeless.

- plantae caespites atro-virides formantes, plants forming dark green sods.

- partibus vetustis in caespites arcte contexentibus, with the old parts densely interweaving into sods.

- Hab. in caespites late expansos laxe intricata, in mari substagnanti tranquilliori, it lives in broadly outspread clumps loosely interwoven, in substagnant, more quiet sea.

- Hab. ad saxa et in scrobiculis aqua vix superfusis, in caespites minutos collecta, it dwells on stones and in small depressions scarcely poured over by water, gathered together in minute clumps.

- [illustration] Peziza rhizopus: (a) caespes situm et staturam naturalem servans(S&A), Peziza rhizopus: (a) clump, retaining the natural position and size.

- caespites saepe plures confluunt (S&A), many of the the clumps often confluent.

NOTE: caespes seems to have two meanings: 1. describing a tuft or clump [cf. also group or colony], that is, erect plants grown tightly together at the base, often resulting in a cushion-shape, somewhat hemisphaeric, such as Grimmiaceous mosses of the genus Dryptodon or Grimmia, and 2. a mat or sod, a ‘carpet’ or ‘rug’ made of plants that either recline and are matted together, or whose roots below erect structures, such as culms, are matted together into a lawn or turf. The latter description might fit caespes or caespitose for marine algae, which in English is often referred to as a ‘bed’ of algae.

- [OSCILLATORIA TORTA; algae] Caespes aut fluctuans, aut lapillis adnascens, biuncialis & ultra, atroviridis, substrato nullo limoso insidens (Agardh), the clump [i.e. bed] either undulating, or growing on pebbles, two inches and beyond, blackish-green, seated on no silty substrate.

NOTE: a weft, q.v., may be described as: caespes laxe intricatus, a loosely interwoven tuft (turf), 'loosely interwoven sods.'

NOTE: sod: “the upper stratum of the soil that is filled with the roots of grass or other herbs, turf, sward; a piece or section of such sod; the grass-covered surface of the ground” (WIII).