apothecium

American  

[ap-uh-thee-shee-uhm, -see-] / ˌæp əˈθi ʃi əm, -si- /

noun

Botany, Mycology.

plural

apothecia

1. the fruit of certain lichens and fungi: usually an open, saucer-shaped or cup-shaped body, the inner surface of which is covered with a layer that bears asci.

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apothecium British  

/ ˌæpəˈθiːsɪəl, ˌæpəˈθiːsɪəm /

noun

1. botany a cup-shaped structure that contains the asci, esp in lichens; a type of ascocarp

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apothecium Scientific  

/ ăp′ə-thē′sē-əm,-shē- /

plural

apothecia

1. A disk-shaped or cup-shaped ascocarp of some lichens and the fungi Ascomycetes.

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Other Word Forms

• apothecial adjective

Etymology

Origin of apothecium

1820–30; < New Latin < Greek apo- apo- + thēkíon, equivalent to thḗk ( ē ) case ( theca ) + -ion diminutive suffix

Example Sentences

Such an ascocarp goes by the name of apothecium.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 "Frost" to "Fyzabad" by Various

A portion of a section through an apothecium of Peltigera canina, showing part of the hymenium of interwoven hyphae below and the bases of three paraphyses above.

From Ohio Biological Survey, Bull. 10, Vol. 11, No. 6 The Ascomycetes of Ohio IV and V by Hilker, Leafy Jane Corrington

I have studied vegetation in all its mysteries—in the stalk, in the bud, in the sepal, in the stamen, in the carpel, in the ovule, in the spore, in the theca, and in the apothecium.

From The Man Who Laughs by Hugo, Victor

B. simplex The disk of the apothecium white-pruinose 2.

From Ohio Biological Survey, Bull. 10, Vol. 11, No. 6 The Ascomycetes of Ohio IV and V by Hilker, Leafy Jane Corrington

In the Helvellaceae there is no apothecium but a large irregular fruit body which at maturity bears the asci on its surface.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 "Frost" to "Fyzabad" by Various