lithocystn.
/ˈlɪθəsɪst/ 1. Zoology. One of the sacs containing mineral particles found in certain Medusæ, and supposed to be organs of hearing.
ΚΠ
1859 T. H. Huxley Oceanic Hydrozoa 24 Every appendage (except the hydrothecæ and lithocysts) commences its existence as a cæcal process of the ectoderm and endoderm.
1870 H. A. Nicholson Man. Zool. 92 The margin of the umbrella is furnished with a series of..‘lithocysts’.
1877 T. H. Huxley Man. Anat. Invertebrated Animals iii. 126 There can be little doubt that the lithocysts..are of the nature of auditory organs.
2. Botany. A cell containing crystals of calcium carbonate formed beneath the surface of the leaves of some plants.
ΚΠ
1882 S. H. Vines tr. J. von Sachs Text-bk. Bot. (ed. 2) 88 Transitional forms between the imperfect laticiferous vessels of bulb-scales and simple lithocysts which do not contain latex but only raphides.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1903; most recently modified version published online June 2018).
<
n.1859