combining form of L. curv-us curved; chiefly in adjectives used in Nat. Hist. (of many of which analogous forms are used in modern French), as Curvicaudate [L. cauda tail; in mod.F. curvicaude], having a curved tail. Curvicostate [L. costa rib], ‘marked with small bent ribs’ (Webster, 1864). Curvidentate [L. dent-em tooth], having curved teeth. Curvifoliate [L. folium leaf], ‘having leaves bent back’ (Webster). Curviform [see -FORM], of a curved shape. Curvinervate, Curvinerved, = curve-veined (see CURVE a. and sb. C). Curvirostral [L. rostrum beak], having a curved beak. Curviserial, forming a series disposed in a curve (of leaves on a stem).
1880. Gray, Struct. Bot., iii. § 4. 92. Curvinerved, when nerves curve in their course, as in the leaves of Funkia.
1870. Bentley, Bot., 139–40. No leaf can be placed precisely in a straight line over any preceding leaf, but disposed in an infinite curve, and hence called curviserial.
