phytolith

1 of 2

noun (1)

phy·​to·​lith ˈfī-tə-ˌlith 

: a microscopic siliceous particle that is formed by a plant and that is highly resistant to decomposition

ancient vegetation revealed by phytoliths

phytolite

2 of 2

noun (2)

phy·​to·​lite

ˈfītəˌlīt

variants or phytolith

-ˌlith 

plural -s

1

: a plant fossil

2

phytolith : a microscopic siliceous particle that forms in plant cells and is highly resistant to decomposition

ancient plant species revealed by soil phytoliths

Examples of phytolith in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

But the short answer may sound inscrutable — a Levallois refit or manioc phytolith — or dull — a bowl, comb or donkey bone. —Bridget Alex, Discover Magazine, 4 Aug. 2020

His team sampled the ancient soil of Olorgesailie Basin for fossilized particles of plant tissue called phytoliths. —Kiona N. Smith, Ars Technica, 18 Mar. 2018

But in sifting the soil samples, Ph.D. student Lautaro Hilbert noticed the unusual abundance of rice phytoliths. —Dennis Normile, Science | AAAS, 10 Oct. 2017

While acidic soils decompose and destroy the organic matter from rice, including its grains and stems, rice plants produces microscopic bits of silica called phytoliths that form in distinctive patterns in rice leaves. —Jason Daley, Smithsonian, 7 June 2017

Less than a tenth of an ounce of soil might yield thousands of phytoliths, says Dolores Piperno, a phytolith expert at the Smithsonian who was not involved in the study. —Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 29 May 2017

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

phyto- + -lith, probably after New Latin Phytolitharia or German Phytolitharien, a loosely defined taxonomic division covering siliceous vegetable remains

Note: The taxon Phytolitharia/Phytolitharien was introduced by the German microbiologist Christian Gottfried Ehrenberg (1795-1876), perhaps first in a series of reports in Bericht über die zur Bekanntmachung geeigneten Verhandlungen der Königlichen Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin, aus dem Jahre 1843. Ehrenberg divided the microscopic organisms he found in marine estuary mud into three groups: "siliceous shelled Polygastrica," "calcareous-shelled Polythalmia," and "siliceous vegetable remains, Phytolitharia" (see C.G. Ehrenberg, "On the muddy deposits at the Mouths and Deltas of various rivers in northern Europe, and the infusorial Animalcules found in those deposits," Quarterly Journal of the Geological Society of London, vol. 1 [1845], p. 252).

Noun (2)

phyt- + -lite or -lith

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1958, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

circa 1895, in the meaning defined at sense 1