antheridium

American  

[an-thuh-rid-ee-uhm] / ˌæn θəˈrɪd i əm /

noun

Botany, Mycology.

plural

antheridia

1. a male reproductive structure producing gametes, occurring in ferns, mosses, fungi, and algae.

---

antheridium British  

/ ˌænθəˈrɪdɪəm /

noun

1. the male sex organ of algae, fungi, bryophytes, and spore-bearing vascular plants, such as ferns, which produces antherozoids

---

antheridium Scientific  

/ ăn′thə-rĭd′ē-əm /

plural

antheridia

1. An organ in certain organisms that produces male gametes. Antheridia are found in many groups of organisms, including the bryophytes, ferns, ascomycete fungi, and some algae. Most gymnosperms and all angiosperms, however, have lost the antheridium, and its role is filled by the pollen grain.

2. Compare archegonium

---

Other Word Forms

• antheridial adjective

Etymology

Origin of antheridium

From New Latin, dating back to 1850–55; anther, -idium

Example Sentences

Once released from the antheridium, the clock begins to count down their survival probability.

From Scientific American

Cryptogamous plants with a distinct axis or stem, growing from the apex, and commonly not with later increase in diameter, usually furnished with distinct leaves; reproduction by antheridia and archegonia, sometimes also by gemmation.

From Project Gutenberg

One of the mobile male reproductive bodies in the antheridia of cryptograms.

From Project Gutenberg

The endochrome is believed to be fertilized by bodies developed in antheridia, the contents of each fertilized cell dividing into four ovate zoospores.

From Project Gutenberg

In Cystopus Bliti the oosphere contains numerous nuclei, and all the male nuclei from the antheridium pass into it, the male and female nuclei then fusing in pairs.

From Project Gutenberg