prothallium
Americannoun
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Botany. the gametophyte of ferns and related plants.
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the analogous rudimentary gametophyte of seed-bearing plants.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of prothallium
1855–60; < New Latin < Greek pro- pro- 2 + thallíon, diminutive of thallós young shoot; see -ium
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
C, young prothallium, × 50. r, root hair. sp. spore membrane.
From Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany For High Schools and Elementary College Courses by Campbell, Douglas Houghton
He showed that "the embryo-sac of the Coniferae may be looked upon as a spore remaining enclosed in its sporangium; the prothallium which it forms does not come to the light."
From Darwin and Modern Science by Seward, A. C. (Albert Charles)
In the upper part of the prothallium several large archegonia are formed in much the same way as in the pteridophytes.
From Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany For High Schools and Elementary College Courses by Campbell, Douglas Houghton
The pollen cell forms two or three divisions, which are either permanent or soon absorbed; this, as before stated, is the rudimentary male prothallium.
From Scientific American Supplement, No. 531, March 6, 1886 by Various
As the little plant becomes larger the prothallium dies, leaving it attached to the ground as an independent plant, which after a time bears the spores.
From Elements of Structural and Systematic Botany For High Schools and Elementary College Courses by Campbell, Douglas Houghton
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
