a. Bot. [ad. L. leprōsus, f. LEPRA.] Having a scaly or scurfy appearance; lepidote; esp. said of crustaceous lichens in which the thallus adheres to trees or stones like a scurf.
1856. W. L. Lindsay, Pop. Hist. Brit. Lichens, 34. Leprose species are also exceedingly common from our sea-coasts to our mountain summits.
1871. W. A. Leighton, Lichen-flora, 46. Thallus leprose or powdery, effuse or evanescent.
¶ In pseudo-L. combining form leproso-, with the meaning ‘leprose and …’
1871. W. A. Leighton, Lichen-flora, 228. L[ecanora] erysibe … leproso-granulose, thin, diffract. Ibid., 258. Thin, effuse, leproso-pulverulent.
