a. [ Gr. &unr_; clove tree; &unr_; nut + &unr_; leaf. ] (Bot.) (a) Having corollas of five petals with long claws inclosed in a tubular, calyx, as the pink. (b) Belonging to the family of which the pink and the carnation are the types. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. an order of plants which corresponds approximately to the older group Centrospermae.
Syn. -- order Caryophyllales, Chenopodiales, order-Chenopodiales. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. a group of families of mostly flowers having basal or free-central placentation and trinucleate pollen (binucleate pollen is commoner in flowering plants); it contains 14 families including: Caryophyllaceae (carnations and pinks); Aizoaceae; Amaranthaceae; Batidaceae; Chenopodiaceae; Cactaceae (order Opuntiales); Nyctaginaceae; Phytolaccaceae; it corresponds approximately to order Caryophyllales; it is sometimes classified as a superorder.
Syn. -- subclass Caryophyllidae. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. (Chem.) A tasteless and odorless crystalline substance, extracted from cloves, polymeric with common camphor. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Caryophyllaceous. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Caryopses [ NL., fr. gr. &unr_; hut, kernel + &unr_; sight, form. ] (Bot.) A one-celled, dry, indehiscent fruit, with a thin membranous pericarp, adhering closely to the seed, so that fruit and seed are incorporated in one body, forming a single grain, as of wheat, barley, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]