from
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48
Trimorphism \Tri*mor"phism\, n. [See {Trimorphic}.]
1. (Crystallog.) The property of crystallizing in three forms
fundamentally distinct, as is the case with titanium
dioxide, which crystallizes in the forms of rutile,
octahedrite, and brookite. See {Pleomorphism}.
[1913 Webster]
2. (Biol.) The coexistence among individuals of the same
species of three distinct forms, not connected, as a rule,
by intermediate gradations; the condition among
individuals of the same species of having three different
shapes or proportions of corresponding parts; --
contrasted with {polymorphism}, and dimorphism.
[1913 Webster]
{Heterogonous trimporphism} (Bot.), that condition in which
flowers of plants of the same species have three different
lengths of stamens, short, medium, and long, the blossoms
of one individual plant having short and medium stamens
and a long style, those of another having short and long
stamens and a style of medium length, and those of a third
having medium and long stamens and a short style, the
style of each blossom thus being of a length not
represented by its stamens.
[1913 Webster]