Vertebraria

noun

Ver·​te·​brar·​ia

ˌvərtəˈbra(a)rēə

: a genus of fossil plants based upon rootlike remains of Triassic age that resemble a vertebral column

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin, from Latin vertebra "joint, vertebra" + New Latin -aria -aria entry 2

Note: Name introduced by the British botanist John Forbes Royle (1798-1858) in Illustrations of the Botany and Other Branches of the Natural History of the Himalayan Mountains (London, 1839), vol. 1, p. xxix*, and vol. 2, plate 2.

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