A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

Urn (Eng.noun), “the spore-case of Urn-mosses” (Lindley); the spore-bearing part of a bryophyte capsule, often in contrast to the sterile neck (the apophysis or hypophysis), syn. theca,-ae (s.f.I), q.v.: urna,-ae (s.f.I), 'a vessel for drawing water, a water-pot, water-jar;' [> “akin to the source of L. urceus, pitcher, ewer, Gk hyrchE, jar; “a vessel (as a vase) of various forms usu. furnished with a foot or pedestal and employed for holding liquids” (WIII); > L. urna,-ae (s.f.I), “a narrow-necked, full-bodied vessel for holding liquids, etc., a pitcher, urn” (Glare)]; see neck; cf. ‘crater;’ see capsule, theca; cf. amphora,-ae (s.f.I).

Urnula,-ae (s.f.I): a small urn or pitcher [dim. urna,-ae (s.f.I)]. see neck;

- [musci] theca turbinata ore amplo, operculo rostrato urna longiore praedita exannulata (C. Mueller), the theca turbinate, with a large mouth, provided with an operculum rostrate [i.e. beaked] longer than the urn, lacking an annulus.

- [musci] capsulae exiguae subrotundae fuscae, urnae per microscopium urceolatae, ora laeves, exiguo annulo cincta, ciliis inconspicuis, forte quoniam introversae sunt (C. Mueller), capsules puny [i.e. underdeveloped], somewhat round, blackish-brown, the urns through the microscope urn-shaped, the mouths smooth, bound with a meagre annulus, with the cilia inconspicuous, perhaps because they are turned towards the inside.

Urn-mosses: “an English name for the Bryaceae or true Mosses” (Lindley); “any of several mosses (as members of the genus Physcomitrium and esp. P. turbinatum) having an urn-shaped theca” (WIII)..