columella

American  

[kol-yuh-mel-uh] / ˌkɒl jəˈmɛl ə /

noun

Biology.

• columellae
  plural

1. 1. any of various small, columnlike structures of animals or plants; rod or axis.

   2. Mycology. a small central column of sterile tissue within the sporangium of certain fungi, liverworts, and mosses.

2. a small bone in the ear of amphibians, reptiles, and birds.

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columella British  

/ ˌkɒljʊˈmɛlə /

noun

1. biology

   1. the central part of the spore-producing body of some fungi and mosses

   2. any similar columnar structure

2. Also called: columella auris.  a small rodlike bone in the middle ear of frogs, reptiles, and birds that transmits sound to the inner ear: homologous to the mammalian stapes

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• columellar
  adjective
• columellate
  adjective
• postcolumellar
  adjective
• pseudocolumellar
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• columellae
  plural

Etymology

Origin of columella

1575–85; < Latin: small column, equivalent to colum- (variant of column-, stem of columna column ) + -ella -elle

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

columella columellae

It is the cartilagenous part of the columella that connects with the external sound detecting mechanism.

From A Revision of Snakes of the Genus Conophis (Family Colubridae, from Middle America) by Wellman, John

Mitre, with the epidermis marbled with brownish-yellow; volutions at their base black; columella five-plaited.

From Zoological Illustrations, Volume I or Original Figures and Descriptions of New, Rare, or Interesting Animals by Swainson, William

Capsule ovoid or globular, 4–5-celled, 4–5-valved, the valves 2-cleft; placentæ many-seeded, pendulous from the summit of the columella.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

The remarkable shape of the sporangium and the peculiar regularity of the surface net, the lateral columella, all combine here to warrant the erection of a distinct species.

From The North American Slime-Moulds A Descriptive List of All Species of Myxomycetes Hitherto Reported from the Continent of North America, with Notes on Some Extra-Limital Species by MacBride, Thomas H. (Thomas Huston)

Capsule globose, depressed, 5-lobed, 5-celled, loculicidal, but the valves cohering with the columella.

From The Manual of the Botany of the Northern United States Including the District East of the Mississippi and North of North Carolina and Tennessee by Gray, Asa

The delicate, spindle-shaped columellae lie ventral to the tegmen tympani and squamosals, are spatulate distally, and have a broad basal attachment to the auditory region.

From Neotropical Hylid Frogs, Genus Smilisca by Duellman, William E.