Pl. -phyta. Obs. [mod.L., f. Gr. λίθο-ς stone + φυτόν plant.] Coral.
1646. Sir T. Browne, Pseud. Ep., II. v. 91. That Corall (which is a Lithophyton or stone plant, and groweth at the bottome of the Sea).
1691. Ray, Creation, I. (1692), 74. Not only the Herbaceous and Woody Submarine Plants, but also the Lithophyta themselves affect this manner of growing.
1753. Chambers, Cycl. Supp., s.v., The white sea lithophyton called shrubby coralline.
1761. Ellis, in Phil. Trans., LII. 357. Mr. Mason of Barbadoes … brought me this rare lithophyton.
