bursicle

English

Noun

bursicle (plural bursicles)

1. (botany) A sheath that covers the viscidium in some plants.
   • 1977, Michael Willmer Forbes Tweedie, Insect Life, page 106:

     These are joined by slender stalks to sticky discs, the viscidia, which are protected from contact with the air by a membranous pouch called the bursicle. At a touch from a visiting bee the bursicle ruptures and the insect's head, probing towards the nectar, is bound to touch one or both viscidia which immediately stick to it and become detached from the flower.

Anagrams

• rubicels