apothecium

American  

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

noun

Botany, Mycology.

apothecia plural

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- /

apothecia plural

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• apothecial
  adjective

Inflected Forms

noun

• apothecia
  plural

Etymology

Origin of apothecium

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

Example Sentences

Piece of thallus of Parmelia conspersa, with section through an apothecium.

From The Elements of Botany For Beginners and For Schools by Gray, Asa

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

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

Such an ascocarp goes by the name of apothecium.

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

Discomycetes, a large section of the ascomycetous Fungi, distinguished by the fact that the hymenium covers the surface of an open, disc-like or cup-shaped fruit-body called an apothecium.

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia Volume 4, Part 1: Deposition to Eberswalde by Various