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-phyte

Also ‑phyta and ‑phytic.

A plant or plant-like organism.

Greek phuton, a plant, from phuein, come into being.

Words in ‑phyte divide into two classes. Some describe the way plants live; for example, epiphytes (Greek epi, upon) grow on other plants. Others refer to specific groups of plants; for example, bryophytes (Greek bruon, moss) are members of a group that comprises the mosses and liverworts.

Members of the latter set are often linked to systematic names for groups that end in ‑phyta (from the Greek plural form phuta, plants). Two instances are Chlorophyta (Greek khlōros, green), a division of lower plants that comprises the green algae, and Pteridophyta (Greek pteris, pterid‑, fern), a division of flowerless green plants that comprises the ferns and their relatives.

A less obvious member of the set is neophyte, a person who is new to a subject, skill, or belief; this is literally a person ‘newly planted’ (Greek neos, new), whose figurative sense derives from St. Paul's use of it for a new convert.

Terms ending in ‑phyte have associated adjectives in ‑phytic: epiphytic, saprophytic, xerophytic.

Examples of words in -phyte
Word origins are from Greek unless otherwise stated.

bryophyte

a division of small flowerless green plants which comprises the mosses and liverworts

bruon, moss

charophyte

a division of lower plants that includes the stoneworts

Latin Chara, a plant of uncertain identity

dermatophyte

a pathogenic fungus that grows on skin, mucous membranes, hair, nails, feathers, and other body surfaces, causing ringworm and related diseases

derma, dermat‑, skin, hide

endophyte

a plant, especially a fungus, which lives inside another plant

endon, within

epiphyte

a plant that grows on another plant, especially one that is not parasitic

epi, upon

gametophyte

the gamete-producing phase of a plant with alternating generations

English gamete

geophyte

a plant propagated by means of underground buds

, earth

halophyte

a plant adapted to growing in saline conditions, as in a salt marsh

hals, halo‑, salt

hydrophyte

a plant which grows only in or on water

hudōr, water

macrophyte

a plant, especially an aquatic plant, large enough to be seen by the naked eye

makros, long, large

osteophyte

a bony outgrowth associated with the degeneration of cartilage at joints

osteon, bone

saprophyte

a plant, fungus, or micro-organism that lives on dead or decaying organic matter

sapros, putrid

sporophyte

the asexual phase of plants with alternating generations

spora, spore

xerophyte

a plant which needs very little water

xēros, dry

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