EXCRESCENT • E-FREE TRANSLATION.COM • Definition of Excrescent

... greenish tortoises, bristling hideously with long hairs that were stiffer than iron. The echinocacti, which showed more flesh, suggested nests of young writhing, knotted vipers. The echinopses were mere excrescent red-haired growths that made one think of huge insects rolled into balls. The prickly-pears spread out fleshy leaves spotted with ruddy spikes that resembled swarms of microscopic bees. The gasterias sprawled about like big shepherd-spiders turned over on their backs, ...

— Abbe Mouret's Transgression - La Faute De L'abbe Mouret • Emile Zola