sterigma

American  

[stuh-rig-muh] / stəˈrɪg mə /

noun

Mycology.

plural

sterigmata

1. a small stalk that bears a sporangium, a conidium, or especially a basidiospore.

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sterigma British  

/ stəˈrɪɡmə /

noun

1. biology a minute stalk bearing a spore or chain of spores in certain fungi

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Other Word Forms

• sterigmatic adjective

Etymology

Origin of sterigma

1865–70; < New Latin < Greek stḗrigma a support, equivalent to stērig-, base of stērízein to support + -ma noun suffix

Example Sentences

The size varies, but a typical spore is about 10 microns, or 1/2,500th of an inch, in width, and it is attached at the end of a stalk called a sterigma.

From New York Times

“There’s a point at the top of the sterigma, and it has one of the most poetic names in biology,” Dr. Pringle said.

From New York Times

D, Passage of a nucleus through the sterigma into the basidiospore.

From Project Gutenberg

The young basidium contains two nuclei, which later fuse; the fusion-nucleus then undergoes two successive divisions, involving a reduction of chromosomes, and each of the four resultant nuclei passes through a sterigma into a basidiospore.

From Project Gutenberg

The formation of the first spore takes place at the same end of the sterigma, and in the same manner a second follows, then a third, and so on; every one which springs up later pushes its predecessor in the direction of the axis of the sterigma in the same degree in which it grows itself; every successive spore formed from a sterigma remains for a time in a row with one another.

From Project Gutenberg