NAMA Store >

Namyco Logo

Glossary (in progress)

This glossary is a compendium of words you might not be familiar with reading the two mycorrhizae articles above.

Arbuscule – a highly branched (“little tree”) structure which grows inside the plant cell wall but outside the plasma membrane
Appressorium – a specialized cell typical of many fungal hyphae that is used to attach to a specific location on a root hair. It is a flattened, hyphal pressing organ, from which a minute peg grows and penetrates the host epidermis.
Ascomycete – a fungus whose spores develop within asci. The ascomycetes include the fungal component of most lichens, and a few large forms such as morels and truffles. Ascomycota is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species.
Basidiomycete – a fungus whose spores develop on a basidium; a group of higher fungi that have septate hyphae, including rusts, smuts, mushrooms, and puffballs
Epiphyte – a plant that grows above the ground, supported non-parasitically by another plant or object, and deriving its nutrients and water from the air
Ericoid – resembling heath.  The Ericaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the heath or heather family, found most commonly in acid and infertile growing conditions.
Hartig net – a network of inward growing hyphae, that extends into the root, penetrating between the epidermis and cortex. The Hartig net is named after Theodor Hartig, a 19th-century German forest biologist and botanist.
Hypha (plural – hyphae) – a long, branching filamentous structure of a fungus. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium
Hydrophyte – a plant that grows in water or very moist ground; an aquatic plant
Monophyletic – a group of organisms descended from a common evolutionary ancestor
Mycorrhiza (plural – mycorrhizae) – a symbiotic association between a fungus and a plant. The term mycorrhiza refers to the role of the fungus in the plant’s root system.
Rhizosphere – a plant’s root system, and the. narrow region of soil that is directly influenced by root secretions
Vesicle – a structure within or outside a cell, consisting of liquid or cytoplasm enclosed by a lipid bilayer

Scroll to Top
Skip to content