Aecispores

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Spores formed inside the aecium, a cup-shaped fruiting structure of certain rust fungi, that infect a different host plant
2. Reproductive spores released from the aecium stage of a rust fungus's life cycle, often carried by wind to new plants
3. Thin-walled fungal spores produced in the aecial cups of rust fungi as part of their multi-host life cycle

Etymology: In rust fungi, the aecium is a cup-shaped structure that breaks through the leaves or stems of the host plant, and the aecispores are the spores that form inside it. The name "aecium" is a New Latin coinage built on the Greek "aikia," meaning "injury," a reference to the damage these structures do to the plant. "Spore" comes from the Greek "spora," meaning "seed" or "sowing," from the verb "speirein," "to sow." Joining the two gives a term for the spores of this particular stage in a rust fungus's life cycle.