What does cypsela mean?
A cypsela is a specialized type of dry fruit found in the daisy family, Asteraceae — the group that includes sunflowers, daisies, dandelions, and lettuces. Botanically, it is a small, hard, one-seeded fruit that does not split open when ripe, developed from an inferior ovary. This last detail matters to specialists: because most other one-seeded dry fruits (called achenes) arise from superior ovaries, the Asteraceae fruit earns its own name. The word appears mainly in botany textbooks, herbarium descriptions, and taxonomic papers, so it remains unfamiliar outside scientific circles. Yet the structure it names is everywhere: every 'seed' carried on a dandelion's parachute or stripped from a sunflower head is actually a cypsela. Knowing the term offers a satisfying glimpse into how closely botanists distinguish structures that casual observation lumps together.
nounA dry, one-seeded indehiscent fruit characteristic of the daisy family (Asteraceae), formed from a two-carpelled inferior ovary. It is the fruit type seen in sunflowers and dandelions, where what looks like a seed is technically a cypsela bearing a pappus.
- A dry, single-seeded, indehiscent fruit derived from an inferior ovary, characteristic of plants in the daisy family (Asteraceae).
"Each fluffy tuft drifting from the dandelion head is a cypsela equipped with its parachute-like pappus."
"Botanists classify each sunflower 'seed' as a cypsela rather than a true achene."
"Under the microscope, the cypsela revealed the persistent pappus that aids its dispersal by wind."
The standard plural retains the Latinate -ae ending, consistent with other botanical terms of Latin origin; 'cypselas' occasionally appears but is less conventional in technical writing.
"The receptacle was densely covered with maturing cypselae."
That 'seed' blowing off a dandelion isn't a seed at all — it's a whole fruit called a cypsela, and the fluff is just its built-in parachute.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of cypsela
The word cypsela comes from Latin cypsela, itself borrowed from Greek kypsēla, meaning a box or chest-like vessel — an allusion to the small, enclosed form of the fruit. It entered English botanical usage during the nineteenth century as plant taxonomy formalized its terminology. Related forms such as cypseliform ('shaped like a cypsela') derive directly from the same classical root.
How cypsela is actually used
Strictly technical botanical terminology, used almost exclusively in plant taxonomy and botany texts. The term carries no informal register; in everyday contexts people simply say 'seed' even though this is scientifically imprecise for Asteraceae.
Easily confused with cypsela
An achene develops from a superior ovary, while a cypsela is botanically defined as developing from an inferior ovary, which is why the fruits of Asteraceae are called cypselae rather than true achenes.