aethalium

American  

[ee-they-lee-uhm] / iˈθeɪ li əm /

noun

Mycology.

plural

aethalia

1. a large, plump, pillow-shaped fruiting body of certain myxomycetes, formed by the aggregation of plasmodia into a single functional mass.

---

Etymology

Origin of aethalium

< New Latin, originally a genus of Myxomycetes containing such a body < Greek aíthal ( os ) or aithál ( ē ) thick smoke, soot (akin to aíthein to kindle, burn) + New Latin -ium -ium; so named from the smokelike spores

Example Sentences

This species furnishes a clear notion of the structure of the aethalium in the other species, on account of the sporangia being but loosely compacted and not entirely grown together.

From The Myxomycetes of the Miami Valley, Ohio by Morgan, A. P. (Andrew Price)

Sporangia simple and stipitate or sessile, sometimes plasmodiocarp, rarely combined into an aethalium; the wall a thin membrane, usually with an outer layer of minute roundish granules of lime.

From The Myxomycetes of the Miami Valley, Ohio by Morgan, A. P. (Andrew Price)