lithophyton

English

Etymology

From Modern Latin lithophyton, from Ancient Greek roots λίθος (líthos, “stone”) + φυτόν (phutón, “plant”).

Noun

lithophyton (plural lithophyta)

1. (obsolete) Coral.
   • 1646, Sir Thomas Browne, Pseudodoxia Epidemica, II.5:

     That Coral (which is a Lithophyton or stone-plant, and groweth at the bottom of the Sea) is soft under Water, but waxeth hard in the air […] we have some reason to doubt […]

References

• “‖lithophyton” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2^nd Ed.; 1989]