epiphragm

[ep-uh-fram]

noun

1. a calcified or membranous septum produced by certain land snails during hibernation and functioning to cover the shell opening and prevent desiccation.

2. Botany.,  a membrane enclosing the capsule in certain mosses.

epiphragm

/ ˈɛpɪˌfræm /

noun

1. a disc of calcium phosphate and mucilage secreted by snails over the aperture of their shells before hibernation

Other Word Forms

• epiphragmal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of epiphragm¹

1820–30; < Greek epíphragma covering, lid, equivalent to epi- epi- + phrágma fence

Word History and Origins

Origin of epiphragm¹

C19: via New Latin from Greek epiphragma a lid, from epiphrassein, from _epi- + phrassein to place in an enclosure

Example Sentences

Known as an epiphragm, the membrane seals the base of the snail and prevents it from losing too much water.

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As with an epiphragm, the glue works best on rough surfaces, but Yang said the adhesive was still effective on glass.

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Similarly in the tropics members of this group, such as Achatina in tropical Africa and Orthalicus in Brazil, aestivate during the dry season, the epiphragm preserving them against desiccation; and examples of two species of Achatina from east and west Africa exhibited in the Zoological Gardens in London remained concealed in their shells during the winter, although kept in an artificially warmed house, and resumed their activity in the summer.

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The peridium is tan-colored, thick externally nearly even, internally quite even, smooth, shining; mouths of young plants are covered with a thin yellowish membrane called the epiphragm.

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In Polytrichum a membranous epiphragm stretches across the wide mouth of the capsule between the tips of the short peristome teeth, and closes the opening except for the interspaces of the peristome.

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