Definition of "sporangium" [‖Spo•ran•gi•um]

• A single-celled or many-celled structure in which spores are produced, as in fungi, algae, mosses, and ferns. Also called spore case. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Later, the inner of these two layers becomes disorganized, so that the central mass of cells floats free in the cavity of the sporangium, which is now surrounded by but a single layer of cells (_E_)."
• "At the end of each of its branches it bears a cone made of scaly leaves; and fixed to the inside of each of these leaves is a case called a sporangium, full of little spores or moss-seeds, as we may call them, though they are not exactly like true seeds."
• "The most common form is the sporangium, which is usually stalked and ends in a capsule containing the spores"