noun
- The smallest structural unit of a plant stem, consisting of a node with its attached leaf or leaves and the internode below it.
Usage: botany; plural of phyton
Examples
- The stem is composed of a series of phytons arranged sequentially along its length.
- Each phyton includes a node where leaves attach and the stem segment below it.
- Botanists study phytons to understand plant growth and development.
- The repetition of phytons gives the stem its characteristic segmented structure.
- In developmental biology, phytons represent the basic modular units of plant architecture.