4 definitions found

pyxidium n 1: fruit of such plants as the plantain; a capsule whose upper part falls off when the seeds are released [syn: pyxidium, pyxis]

pyxidium
n. (pl. pyxidia) Bot. a seed-capsule with a top that comes off like the lid of a box.
Etymology: mod.L f. Gk puxidion, dimin. of puxis: see PYXIS

pyxidium n. (pl. pyxidia) Bot. a seed-capsule with a top that comes off like the lid of a box. [mod.L f. Gk puxidion, dimin. of puxis: see PYXIS]

Pyxidium \Pyx*id"i*um\, n.; pl. Pyxidia. [NL., fr. Gr. ?, dim. a ? a box. See Pyx.] (Bot.) (a) A pod which divides circularly into an upper and lower half, of which the former acts as a kind of lid, as in the pimpernel and purslane. (b) The theca of mosses.