Sporophore

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Sporophore \Spo"ro*phore\ (sp[=o]"r[-o]*f[=o]r), n. [Spore + Gr.
     fe`rein to bear.] (Bot.)
     (a) A placenta.
     (b) That alternately produced form of certain cryptogamous
         plants, as ferns, mosses, and the like, which is
         nonsexual, but produces spores in countless numbers. In


         ferns it is the leafy plant, in mosses the capsule. Cf.
         {Oophore}.
         [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  sporophore
       n : a spore-bearing branch or organ: the part of the thallus of
           a sporophyte that develops spores; in ferns and mosses
           and liverworts is practically equivalent to the
           sporophyte