dichogamy

noun

di·​chog·​a·​my dī-ˈkä-gə-mē 

plural dichogamies

: the production of male and female reproductive elements at different times by a hermaphroditic organism in order to ensure cross-fertilization

dichogamous

dī-ˈkä-gə-məs 

adjective

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from New Latin dichogamia & German Dichogamie, from dicho- dicho- + -gamia, -gamie -gamy

Note: Term introduced in both German and Latin by the German naturalist Christian Konrad Sprengel (1750-1816) in Das entdeckte Geheimnis der Natur im Bau und in der Befruchtung der Blumen (Berlin, 1793), p. 17/18.

First Known Use

1805, in the meaning defined above