spiracle, spyrakle

[Fr. spiracle, from Latin spiraculum = an air-hole, from spiro = to breathe. Any small hole, aperture, orifice, or vent in animal or vegetable bodies, by which air or other fluid is inhaled or exhaled. Applied to the breathing tubes of insects, the blowholes of cetaceans, . spi-re-a, subst. [Latin, from Gr. spiraia = the meadow-sweet. (See def.)] Botany: The typical genus of Spiræide (q. v.). Calyx inferior, equally five-cleft, persistent; petals five, roundish; follicles three to twelve, usually distinct, one-celled, two-valved, with few seeds. Known species fifty, from the temperate and cold parts of the northern hemisphere. Their roots have been used as a tonic. S. silicifolia , found in moist plantations, is not wild. spiræa-oil, 8. [SALICYLOL.]