pneumatophore
/njuːˈmætəˌfɔːr/
noun
- A specialized root that grows upward from the soil in certain swamp-dwelling trees, helping the plant get oxygen in waterlogged conditions.
- We saw pneumatophores poking up like thin fingers along the swamp trail.
- The pneumatophore allows the tree to breathe even when its roots are underwater.
- Mangrove trees have pneumatophores that stick out of the mud at low tide.
- A gas-filled structure in some colonial marine animals, such as the Portuguese man o' war, that helps them float.
- The pneumatophore of the siphonophore acts like a balloon to keep it afloat.
- The blue bubble on the surface is actually the pneumatophore of the man o' war.
- Biologists examined the pneumatophore to understand how the colony stays buoyant.