a. Bot. [ad. L. valvāt-us having folding-doors, f. valva VALVE sb.]
1. Of sepals or petals: Applied to each other by the margins only.
1830. Lindley, Nat. Syst. Bot., 51. Hamamelideæ, which are known by their habit,… and also by their valvate sepals and petals.
1870. Hooker, Stud. Flora, p. xi. Malvaceæ:… Sepals 5, valvate.
b. Of a calyx: Composed of sepals so united.
1858. Carpenter, Veg. Phys., § 556. The calyx of the Rhamneæ being valvate (i. e. the sepals, before expanding, having their edges in proximity with each other).
1877. Hulme, Wild Flowers, I. p. xiii. Calyx five-partite, valvate in bud.
2. Of æstivation or vernation: Characterized by this arrangement of parts.
1829. Lindley, Synops. Brit. Bot., 72. Calyx monophyllous, 4–5 cleft, with a valvate æstivation.
1849. Balfour, Man. Bot., § 186. Sometimes they are … placed so as to touch each other by their edges; thus giving rise to valvate vernation.
1861. Bentley, Man. Bot., 218. The valvate æstivation may be seen in the calyx of the Lime.
