Leaf Spelling Dictionary

Surface and texture

Run a leaf between two fingers and you are testing for these three. They are adjectives of surface rather than shape, and all three end in a suffix English pronounces nothing like it writes.

Three surfaces

  • glaucous

    GLAW-kus/Covered in a fine blue-grey waxy bloom that rubs off under a thumb. The bloom on a plum, on a red cabbage leaf, on a eucalyptus twig.

    6 heard spellings on file

  • coriaceous

    ko-ree-AY-shus/Leathery. A blade thick and stiff enough to keep its shape when you bend it, as in holly, laurel, camellia and most evergreen rhododendrons.

    6 heard spellings on file

  • pubescent

    pyoo-BESS-unt/Covered in short soft hairs, downy to the touch. Mullein and many sages are pubescent enough to feel like felt.

    5 heard spellings on file

All three appear in plant descriptions far beyond leaves. A stem, a fruit and a seed pod can each be glaucous, coriaceous or pubescent.