spike(2) (iou) and self assembly (medicine)

spike(2) (iou)

spike noun2. LME.
[Latin spica (spicus, spicum) rel. to spina SPINE.]
I.
An ear of corn. Chiefly poet. LME.
Botany. A flower-cluster or form of inflorescence consisting of sessile flowers borne on an elongated simple axis. Cf. RACEME. L16.
II. Any of several kinds of valerian, esp. Celtic nard, Valeriana celtica (more fully spike Celtic), and common valerian, V. officinalis, used medicinally. LME-L16.
Lavender; spec. spike lavender. Now dial. exc. in oil of spike below. M16.
Phrases & comb.: oil of spike an essential oil distilled from spike lavender, used in paints and in veterinary medicine. spike Celtic: see sense 3 above. spike lavender a Garden or cultivated lavender. spikemoss a chiefly tropical creeping clubmoss of the genus Selaginella, which has branching stems with hair-like spines on the leaf margins and small spore-bearing cones. spike-rush any of various small marsh plants constituting the genus Eleocharis, of the sedge family, having flowers in dense solitary terminal spikelets on leafless stems. Virgin's spike: see VIRGIN noun.
spikelike adjective2 (Botany) (of an inflorescence) resembling a spike M19.

self assembly (medicine)

self assembly
<biology> The property of forming structures from sub units (protomers) without any external source of information about the structure to be formed such as priming structure or template.

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