perigynium

noun

peri·​gyn·​i·​um

plural perigynia

-ēə

1

: a fleshy cup or tube that surrounds the archegonium of various bryophytes (as of the liverwort group) and that is formed either from the stem apex or from the thallus

2

: the saclike bract that subtends the pistillate flower of sedges of the genus Carex and that in fruit becomes a flask-shaped envelope investing the achene

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from peri- + -gynium (from Greek gynē woman, wife, pistil + New Latin -ium)

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