cryptobotany

Etymology

From crypto- + botany.

cryptobotany means the study of plants whose existence has not been proven. Lexicurio rates it Rare gem — a strength score of 82 out of 100.

Why this word is great

CRYPTOBOTANY — [Noun] The study of plants whose existence is suggested by folklore, anecdote, or other unverified reports but is not substantiated by scientific consensus. From the combining form crypto- (from Greek kryptos, meaning "hidden" or "secret") + botany (from Greek botanē, meaning "plant" or "pasture"). Unlike the taxonomies of "botany," which catalogue the verifiable and chlorophylled, or the expeditions of "cryptozoology," which hunt for hidden beasts, cryptobotany pursues the silent, photosynthetic phantoms at the edge of the map. It is the quest for the tree whose shadow induces perpetual sleep, the meticulous sifting of a sailor's log for the fruit that glows beneath a full moon, and the scent of a phantom orchid carried on a night breeze from an unscalable cliff—a quiet scholarship tending the garden of human longing for a final, living secret cradled in the earth.

noun

The study of plants whose existence has not been proven.“Botany, even cryptobotany, may seem to lie outside the subject matter of this book, but two recent events from Australia have encouraging implications for cryptozoologists.”