Emily Dickinson Lexicon

PEN-TA-DACTYL, n. [Gr. πεντε, five, and δακτυλος, finger.]

1. In botany, a plant called five fingers; a name given to the Ricinus or Palma Christi, from the shape of its leaf. – Encyc.
2. In ichthyology, the five-fingered fish; a name given to a fish common in the East Indian seas, which has five black streaks on each side resembling the prints of five fingers. – Encyc.