contabescence (kontabesens)

[F. contabescence; as contabescent + -ce3: see -ence.] 1. In med., a wasting disease; atrophy, marasmus, or consumption.-2. In bot., an abnormal condition of flowers, in which the anthers become defective and the pollen becomes inert or wanting. contabescent (kon-ta-bes'ent), a. [=F. conta bescent, + tabescere, waste away, In several plants,.. many of the anthers were either shrivelled or contained brown and tough or pulpy matter, without any good pollen-grains, and they never shed their contents; they were in the state designated by Gärtner as contabescent. Darwin , Different Forms of Flowers, p. 193.