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foglie crassulente

English translation: fleshy

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Italian term or phrase:crassulente
English translation:fleshy
Entered by: philgoddard

15:19 May 10, 2013
Italian to English translations [PRO]
Science - Botany
Italian term or phrase: foglie crassulente
Caratteristica di un particolare tipo di pianta che cresce in zone sabbiose:
"Le piante delle spiagge e dune, dette psammofile, ossia amanti della sabbia, presentano particolari adattamenti.
Hanno foglie coriacee per sopportare l’abrasione della sabbia spinta dal vento, peli fogliari per proteggersi dall’evaporazione durante le assolate estati, lunghi apparati radicali e foglie crassulente per raccogliere e accumulare l’acqua, che nella sabbia scompare rapidamente."
Francesco D'Arcangeli
Italy
Local time: 10:12
fleshy leaves
Explanation:
I'm not convinced that "crassulent" is a real word, even among botanists. We don't know who this text is written for, but the word will mean nothing to general readers The small number of hits I've found have been either for an obscure, obsolete word meaning fat or obese, or translations from other languages like andre2013's reference.

Leaves that are swollen to retain water in dry ecosystems are described as fleshy, and that's what I suggest. As my reference shows, you can also say "fat" or "thickened".
Selected response from:

philgoddard
United States
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +4fleshy leaves
philgoddard
5 -1crassulent leaves
andre2013
3succulent leaves
Wendy Streitparth
3crassulacean leaves
Shera Lyn Parpia


  

Answers


26 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): -1
crassulent leaves


Explanation:
http://www.visit-cagliari.it/wimove/media/audioguide/natural...

andre2013
Native speaker of: Native in ItalianItalian, Native in EnglishEnglish

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
disagree  Anthony Green: André, a document which says "Cagliari is settled right where the flatland Campidano ends in front of the Mediterranean sea. " is not a very reliable source of the Queen's English
2 hrs
neutral  Wendy Streitparth: I guess you mean crassulate.
4 hrs
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +4
fleshy leaves


Explanation:
I'm not convinced that "crassulent" is a real word, even among botanists. We don't know who this text is written for, but the word will mean nothing to general readers The small number of hits I've found have been either for an obscure, obsolete word meaning fat or obese, or translations from other languages like andre2013's reference.

Leaves that are swollen to retain water in dry ecosystems are described as fleshy, and that's what I suggest. As my reference shows, you can also say "fat" or "thickened".

Example sentence(s):
  • succulent plants, also known as succulents or sometimes fat plants, are plants having some parts that are more than normally thickened and fleshy, usually to retain water in arid climates or soil conditions.

    Reference: http://wordofthedayfreshfresh.blogspot.com/2010/09/crassulen...
    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Succulent_plant
philgoddard
United States
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 32
Grading comment
Selected automatically based on peer agreement.

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Rachel Fell: had just started to post the same answer :-)
5 mins
agree  Anthony Green
18 mins
agree  JudyC
3 hrs
agree  Simon Charass
4 hrs
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5 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
succulent leaves


Explanation:
Succulent Leaves and Protective Spines of Shaw's Century Plant, Agave Shawii, California, USA

http://www.allposters.co.uk/-sp/Succulent-Leaves-and-Protect...


Close up of the succulent leaves of a Kalanchoe plant.
http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/photo/close-up-of-the-su...


Wendy Streitparth
Germany
Local time: 10:12
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in category: 8
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19 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
crassulacean leaves


Explanation:
Just for completeness' sake.

I'm not sure whether this word has been used loosely in your text, in which case fleshy leaves would be fine. I wonder why the wording in the origiinal was not more informal if they simply meant fleshy leaves.

However crassulacean has another meaning as explained here. It is not the same as succulents.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crassulacean_acid_metabolism

this explains:
In a plant using full CAM, the stomata in the leaves remain shut during the day to reduce evapotranspiration, but open at night to collect carbon dioxide (CO2). The CO2 is stored as the four-carbon acid malate, and then used during photosynthesis during the day. The pre-collected CO2 is concentrated around the enzyme RuBisCO, increasing photosynthetic efficiency.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC541023/

Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM): CO2 and Water Economy ...
link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-642-66429-8_19
by M Kluge - 1976 - Cited by 17 - Related articles
CrossRef; Bradbeer, J. W., Ranson, S. L., Stiller, M. C.: Malate synthesis in Crassulacean leaves. I. The distribution of C 14 in malate of leaves exposed to C ...

Crassulacean acid metabolism photosynthesis - The University of ...
research.eeescience.utoledo.edu/lees/.../Black_2003_PhotosynRes.pdf‎
by CC Black - 2003 - Cited by 50 - Related articles
in Crassulacean leaves. I. The distribution of 14C in malate of leaves exposed in 14CO2 in the dark. Plant Physiol 33: 66–70. Burris RH and Black CC (eds) ...

Crassulacean plants's stomata are always closed during the day ...
answers.yahoo.com › All Categories › Science & Mathematics › Botany‎
Oct 3, 2011 – CAM (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism) plants generally won't have their stomata open during the day. There is a species (Isoetes howellii) that is ...

Maintenance Carbon Cycle in Crassulacean Acid Metabolism Plant ...
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov › Journal List › Plant Physiol › v.77(1); Jan 1985
by WH Kenyon - 1985 - Cited by 37 - Related articles
Maintenance Carbon Cycle in Crassulacean Acid Metabolism Plant Leaves 1. Source and Compartmentation of Carbon for Nocturnal Malate Synthesis ...

Shera Lyn Parpia
Italy
Local time: 10:12
Works in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 24
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