Spot the Frippet: something hypogeal.

You're going to have to dig deep to find this one.

Well, actually, digging shallowly would do, because something hypogeal is something which lives or occurs below ground.

Yes, moles:


photo by Mick E. Talbot

are hypogeal, but they're difficult to see: but what about a potato? Or a peanut? Or a pebble?

There, that's three ideas and they're just a few very obvious ps.

Talking of ps, hypogeal germination is a botanical term which means that the first leaves which emerge from a seed, the cotyledons, always stay below ground. And, rather neatly, the pea plant is an example of this.


photo by Carl Davies  CSIRO

So good luck with spotting something hypogeal. It's a new way of looking a the world, isn't it?

Spot the Frippet: something hypogeal. This word comes from the Latin hypogēus, from the Greek hupogeios, from hypo- under, plus ge, earth.