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endothecium

[ en-doh-thee-shee-uhm, -see-uhm ]

noun

, Botany.
, plural en·do·the·ci·a [en-doh-, thee, -shee-, uh, -see-, uh].
  1. the lining of the cavity of an anther.
  2. (in mosses) the central mass of cells in the rudimentary capsule, from which the archespore is generally developed.
  3. (in bryophytes) the central mass of cells in the capsule, including the spores and columella.


endothecium

/ -sɪəm; ˌɛndəʊˈθiːʃɪəm /

noun

  1. the inner mass of cells of the developing capsule in mosses
  2. the fibrous tissue of the inner wall of an anther
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Derived Forms

  • ˌendoˈthecial, adjective
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Other Words From

  • en·do·the·ci·al [en-doh-, thee, -shee-, uh, l, -sh, uh, l, -see-, uh, l], adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of endothecium1

First recorded in 1825–35; endo- + thecium
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Word History and Origins

Origin of endothecium1

C19: New Latin, from endo- + Greek thēkion case; see theca
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Example Sentences

The endothecium varies in thickness, generally becoming thinner towards the part where the anther opens, and there disappears entirely.

Those central cells are the mother-cells of the pollen, whilst the small-celled layer of tissue external to them becomes the endothecium, the exothecium being formed from the epidermal layer.

In Sphagnum, as in Anthoceros, the archesporium is derived from the amphithecium; in all other mosses it is the outermost layer of the endothecium.

The spores are derived from the endothecium, but no distinction of a sterile columella and an archesporium is established in this, a variable number of its cells becoming spore-mother-cells while the rest serve to nourish the spores.

The layer of cells immediately around the endothecium becomes the spore-sac, and an air-space forms between this and the wall of the capsule.

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endosymbiosisendothelioid