‖ oophoridium Bot.
(ˌəʊəʊfɒˈrɪdɪəm)
Also in anglicized form oophorid (əʊˈɒfərɪd).
[f. mod.L. ōophoron ovary + -idium, Gr. -ιδιον, dim. ending.]
A name for the macrosporangia (or, loosely, the macrospores) of certain Lycopodiaceæ.
| 1835 Lindley Introd. Bot. (1848) II. 98 Lycopods..Their Oophorids. 1864 T. Moore Brit. Ferns 94 In the Selaginellas, an additional kind of spore-case is produced, which contains three or four roundish fleshy spores, many times as large as the granular spores..these larger bodies are called oophoridia. 1866 Treas. Bot. 815/1 Oophoridium, the larger form of spore-case in Selaginella. 1870 Bentley Man. Bot. (ed. 2) 366 The oosporangia or oophoridia are usually two-valved cases, with four lobes, each of which contains one large spore. 1870 Hooker Stud. Flora 469 Lycopodiaceæ..larger capsules containing 3–4 much larger spores (macrospores or oophoridia). |