A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

praemorsus,-a,-um (part.A): premorse, as if bitten off; “the same as truncate, except that the termination is ragged and irregular, as if bitten off” (Lindley); “appearing to be bitten off at the end” (Jackson; Stearn 1996); (mycology) “(of the “root” or base of stipe of agarics or boletes) as if broken off abruptly” (S&D) [> L. praemordeo, -morsi -and mordi, -morsum, 2. to bite, “to bite in front, to bite at the end ... to bite off, snip off, crib” (Lewis & Short)]; cf. succisus,-a,-um (part.A), abruptly broken or bitten off.

NOTE: in mosses the peristome teeth may be praemorse, i.e. irregularly truncate.

truncatus,-a,-um (part.A): truncate, i.e. ending very abruptly as if cut straight across; with an apex squared at the end; “terminating very abruptly, as if a piece had been cut off; as the leaf of the Tulip tree” [Liriodendron] (Lindley).

- caulis deorsum subattenuatus, terrae firmiter infixus, basi praemorsus, radiculas parcas vagas tenues flavidas, stem somewhat attenuate downwardly, firmly fixed in the earth, broken off at the base, radicles moderate, irregular, thin, yellowish.

- foliis perichaetialibus breviter cuspidatis raro praemorsis ad basin (ut in reliquis foliis) (Austin) the perichaetial leaves shortly cuspidate, rarely broken off at the base (as in leaf remnants).

- [fungus; Pisolithus] caulis deorsum subattenuatus, terrae firmiter infixus, basi praemorsus, radiculas parcas vagas tenues flavidas, interdum vix ullas, exserens (S&A), the stem downwardly slightly attenuated, firmly fastened to the soil, praemorse [i.e. raggedly truncate] at the base, putting forth a few ill-defined thin yellowish, sometimes scarcely any, rootlets.

- [moss: Fissidens julianus] theca minutissima obconica dentibus praemorsis irregularibus (C. Muell.), theca very tiny, obconic with the teeth praemorse [i.e. irregularly truncate] irregular.

- [moss] perist. dentibus brevissimis praemorsis (C. Muell.), peristome with the teeth very short, praemorse (i.e. irregularly truncate].

“The radix praemorsa, for which there is no very appropriate English name, is a species of root, which does not taper, but ends (abruptly) blunt, and thus appears as though it were bitten off short at the end. Hence, perhaps, it might, not improperly, be called the bitten root. The Scabiosa succisa (Devil's -bit), Plantago lanceolata, (Rib-grass), Hedypnois autumnalis, (Yellow Devil's bit), and some other plants, funish us with examples of this form of root” (Barton).

“In some cases these rhizomes are placed in a vertical direction in the earth (erect rhizomes), and they then bear a great resemblance to roots, as in the Devil's-bit Scabious (Scabiosa succisa), where such a rhizome is commonly known as a praemorse root” (Bentley); see rhizome.

“A leaf is said to be:

6. Bitten, (folium praemorsum), when the leaf is as it were bitten off at the point, forming a curved line, as in the Pavonia praemorsa” (Willdenow).

A root, rhizome, rootstock] is said to be:

“8. Bitten, (radix praemorsa), where the principal root seems as if it were bitten off, as Scabiosa succisa, Plantago major” (Willdenow).

Succisa,-ae (s.f.I), Devil’s-bit (i.e. -bite), “Name from succidere, to bite off, from the praemorse rootstock, once supposed to have been bitten off by Satan” (Fernald 1950).

[moss] Sphagnum praemorsum; [fungus] Mycena galericulata var. praemorsa (S&A).