Bot. Pl. verticilli. [L. verticillus (Pliny) whorl (sc. of a spindle), dim. of vertex VERTEX. Cf. VERTICIL.] A verticil or whorl.
1760. J. Lee, Introd. Bot., III. iv. (1765), 174. Verticillus, a Whorl, expresses a Number of Flowers that are subsessile, and are produced in Rings round the Stems.
1783. Encycl. Brit. (ed. 2), X. 8570/2. The … smaller creeping germander, hath … reddish flowers, growing almost in a verticillus, or whorls, round the stalk.
1829. T. Castle, Introd. Bot., 94. In the verticillus or whorl, the flowers surround the stem in a sort of ring.
1830. Lindley, Nat. Syst. Bot., Introd. p. xxv. In most orders the sepals occupy one series or verticillus only.
1870. trans. Pouchet’s Universe, 388. When the floral apparatus is complete it is formed of four rosettes, or verticilli, of depressed concentrated leaves.
