— perfoliation , n.
/peuhr foh"lee it, -ayt'/ , adj. Bot.
having the stem apparently passing through the leaf, owing to congenital union of the basal edges of the leaf round the stem.
[ 1540-50; perfoliatus (see PER-, FOLIATE), the fem. of which, perfoliata, was formerly used as the name of a plant with a stalk that seemed to grow through (pierce) its leafage ]