Psammophorous:
SOME plants have an odd defensive tactic against insects. It seems they use sand grains as abrasive armour that damages the insects’ teeth.
These “psammophorous” plants have sticky surfaces to which sand adheres. This sand was suspected to be involved in protecting against herbivorous insects, but this was only tested in 2016. Eric LoPresti of the University of California, Davis, showed that plants with sand coats are eaten less. LoPresti and his colleagues have now examined why. [“Plants use sand armour to break teeth of attacking caterpillars,” NewScientist (6 January 2018)]
I didn’t actually find psammophorous defined anywhere.
