fastigiate

English

A fastigiate Mediterranean cypress

Etymology

From Latin fastigiatus (“peaked”), from fastigium (“peak”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fæˈstɪd͡ʒ.i.ət/

Adjective

fastigiate (comparative more fastigiate, superlative most fastigiate)

1. (botany) Erect and parallel

   The branches of this species are fastigiate.

2. (botany, horticulture) Having closely-bunched erect parallel branches

   This is a fastigiate variety.

3. (palynology) Characterized by a fastigium, a cavity separating the intexine from the sexine near the endoaperture of a colporate pollen grain.

   The grains are 3-colporate and fastigiate.

4. (obsolete) Tapering to a point
   • 1662, John Ray, “Itineraries”, in Memorials of John Ray‎, Ray Society, published 1846, page 148:

     We ascended the top of that noted hill, called Roseberry, or Ounsberry Topping, the top whereof is fastigiate, like a sugar-loaf, and serves for a sea-mark […]

Roseberry Topping, a fastigiate hill

Derived terms

• fastigiated
• fastigiation

Noun

fastigiate (plural fastigiates)

1. (horticulture) A tree or shrub with erect, parallel branches.
   • 1971, Anne Scott-James, Osbert Lancaster, Down to Earth‎, published 2004, →ISBN, page 23:

     An evening spent with a good catalogue or gardening encyclopaedia will reveal an astonishingly wide range of both weepers and fastigiates.

Italian

Adjective

fastigiate

1. feminine plural of fastigiato