oophore Bot.
(ˈəʊəfɔə(r))
[f. Gr. {wlenisisub}ό-ν egg + -ϕόρος bearing, bearer.]
That stage, or form of a plant, in the higher Cryptogams (ferns, mosses, etc.) which, in the alternation of generations, bears male and female organs; the ‘sexual generation’; also called oophyte. Opposed to sporophore or sporophyte.
| 1875 Thiselton Dyer in Encycl. Brit. III. 692/1 For the gamogenetic generation, in which conjugation takes place, or in which special cells (oospheres) are fertilized by antherozoids, and become oospores, ‘Oophore’ may be employed. 1882 Vines tr. Sachs' Bot. 385 The Sexual Generation (Oophore) which is developed from the spore always preserves, in Vascular Cryptogams, the form of a thallus. |