palmate

Definition

Having three or more lobes or veins arising from a common point.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin palmātus (“hand-shaped, palm-leaf shaped”), from palma (“palm, palm-tree”). Equivalent to palm + -ate (adjective-forming suffix). Compare French palmé.

Example Sentences

• "Although palmate leaves are typical of most Western maples, a number of species have leaves without lobes."
• "The horse chestnut, buckeye and hickory trees have palmate leaves. That is, the broad oval leaflets are all set around the tip of a common leaf stem, spreading in a circle, like the ribs of a palm leaf fan."
• "The Palmate Newt is a common Western European amphibian."

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