hypogeal

Dictionary: hy·po·ge·al (hī'pə-jē'əl) pronunciation

also hy·po·ge·an

(-ən) or hy·po·ge·ous (-əs)
adj.

Located under the earth's surface; underground.
Botany. Of or relating to seed germination in which the cotyledons remain below the surface of the ground.

[From Latin hypogēus, from Greek hupogeios : hupo-, hypo- + gē, earth.]

hypogeally hy'po·ge'al·ly adv.

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Hypogeal means "underground".

In botany, a seed is described as hypogeal when the cotyledons of the germinating seed remain non-photosynthetic, inside the seed shell, and below ground. The converse, where the cotyledons expand, throw off the seed shell and become photosynthetic above the ground, is epigeal.
In water purification works, the hypogeal (or Schmutzdecke) layer is a biological film just below the surface of slow sand filters. It contains microorganisms that remove bacteria and trap contaminant particles.

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		Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. Read more
		Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Hypogeal". Read more