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Wikipedia / Indumentum

In biology, an indumentum (Latin, literally: "garment") is a covering of trichomes (fine "hairs") on a plant or of bristles (rarely scales) of an insect.

Plants

The indumentum on plants can have a wide variety of functions, including as anchorage in climbing plants (e.g., Galium aparine), in transpiration control, in water absorption (Tillandsia), the reflection of solar radiation, increasing water-repellency (e.g., in the aquatic fern Salvinia), in protection against insect predation, and in the trapping of insects (Drosera, Nepenthes, Stylosanthes). Plant indumentum types include

  • hirsute

  • lanate

  • pilose

  • pubescent

  • scabrous

  • scurfy

  • stellate

  • tomentose

  • villous

Insects

The use of an indumentum on insects can be pollen-related as on bees, sensory like whiskers, or for other uses including adhesion and poison.

See also

References