combining form of Gr. καυλός (or L. caulis) stem of a plant, forming first element in various technical terms of Botany, as Caulobulb, a leaf-bearing or floriferous stem swollen at the base, as in Ranunculus bulbosus, and many orchids. Caulocarpic, Caulocarpous a. [Gr. καρπός fruit], producing flowers and fruit on its stem and branches many years without perishing, as ordinary shrubs and trees. Caulorhizous a. [Gr. ῥίζα root], sending forth roots from the stem. Caulosarc = caulobulb. Caulotaxis [Gr. τάξις arrangement (after phyllotaxis)], (see quot.).
1880. Gray, Bot. Text-bk., 401. Caulocarpic.… Applied to plants which live to flower and fructify more than once or indefinitely.
1835–61. Henslow (cited by Webster for caulocarpous.)
1882. T. Hick, in Jrnl. Bot., 297. The arrangement and relation of the central and lateral axes of a plant … for these the term caulotaxis will be found convenient.
