scaly vs squarrose

scaly

adj
  • Covered or abounding with scales. 

  • Resembling scales, laminae, or layers. 

  • Composed of scales lying over each other. 

noun
  • The scaly yellowfish (Labeobarbus natalensis). 

squarrose

adj
  • Having scales spreading every way, or standing upright, or at right angles to the surface; said of a shell. 

  • Consisting of scales widely divaricating; having scales, small leaves, or other bodies, spreading widely from the axis on which they are crowded; said of a calyx or stem. 

  • Rough or scaly. 

  • Divided into shreds or jags, raised above the plane of the leaf, and not parallel to it; said of a leaf. 

How often have the words scaly and squarrose occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )