A Grammatical Dictionary of Botanical Latin

Perigynium,-ii (s.n.II), gen. sg. perigynii, abl. sg. perigynio, , nom.& acc.pl. perigynia, dat.& abl.pl. perigyniis:

NOTE: hypogynous, q.v., “growing from below the base of the ovary” (Lindley) and free from ovarian (gynoecial) tissue.

NOTE: archegonium, q.v., the flask-shaped female sex organ in bryophytes.

1.“the hypogynous setae of Sedges; the flask-like calyx in which the ovary of Carex is included; also the hypogynous disk of other plants” (Lindley); “1. the hypogynous setae of sedges; 2. the flask or utricle of Carex; 3. any hypogynous disc; 4. the involucre of the female inflorescence in Bryophytes” (Jackson); “the inflated sac which incloses the ovary in Carex; sometimes used for the reduced perianth in other Cyperaceae” (Fernald 1950); “the saclike bract that subtends the pistillate flower of sedges of the genus Carex and that in fruit becomes a flask-shaped envelope investing the achene” (WIII) [> Gk. peri-, around + gynE, woman, female sex organ, pistil, archegonium];

NOTE: Urceolus,-i (s.m.II), q.v., abl.sg. urceolo: urceole; “the two confluent bracts of Carex, the utricle” (Jackson); utriculus,-i (s.m.II), q.v., “The two confluent glumes of Carex” (Lindley); “A membranous sac surrounding the fruit proper in Carex” (Jackson).

NOTE: B&H used ‘utricle,’ q.v., rather than ‘perigynium’ for Carex.

- [Carex] spiculae femineae 1-florae, spicatae, ad axillas bractearum glumiformium sessiles v. breviter stipitatae, gluma única marginibus connatis utriculum saepe lageniforme (perigynmm auct. plur.) florem includens formante, ore parvo saepius 2-dentato ; rhachilla (spiculae rhachis) intra utriculum saepe ultra florem producta, setiformis v. linearis planaque, utriculum non v. vix excedens (B&H), the female spikelets 1-flowered, spicate, sessile at the axils of the glumiform bracts or shortly stalked, with the single glume with the margins fused often forming a flask-shaped utricle (the perigynium of many authors) enclosing the flower, with the small mouth more often 2-dentate; with the rhachilla (the rhachis of the spikelet) within the utricle [=perigynium] often prolonged beyond the flower, bristle-shaped or linear, and flat, not or scarcely exceeding the utricle [i.e. perigynium].

- [Carex] spiculae foemineae utriculus introrsum ad medium v. fere ad basin fissus; rhachilla setiformis v. complanata utriculum non excedens (B&H), the utricle of the female spikelet toward the inside divided to the middle or almost to the base; the rhachilla bristle-shaped or complanate, not exceeding the utriculus (i.e. perigynium].

2.(in liverworts) “a multistratose sheath surrounding the archegonia and developing sporophyte, formed by the proliferation of peripheral axial [i.e. stem or branch] tissue elevating the perianth (when present) and the female bracts” (Paton); (in bryophytes) “a somewhat fleshy, tubular structure around the archegonial cluster and subsequent sporophyte, derived from axial cells peripheral to the archegonial cluster; a perigynium may or may not be associated with a shoot calyptra; e.g. the hollow perigynium of Isotachis” (Magill 1990); “a fleshy cup or tube that surrounds the archegonium of various bryophytes (as of the liverwort group) and that is formed either from the stem apex or from the thallus” (WIII) [> Gk. peri-, around + gynE, woman, female sex organ, pistil, archegonium];

- Huc verisimiliter pertinet DIPLOCHAEA guianensis, Nees in Linnaea, ix. 296, nucis alis pro perigynii squamis interioribus cum fructu coalescentibus descriptis (B&H), to this place probably belongs Diplochaeta guianensis, with the wings of the nut described for the inner scales of a perigynium coalescent with the fruit.

- perigynium utriculiforme cum stylo cohaerens a Neesio in charactere emendato descriptum est nucis pericarpium (B&H), the utriculiform perigynium coherent with the style described by Nees in an amended character is the pericarpium [i.e. shell] of the nut.

NOTE: in liverworts, the axis is often designated a ‘shoot’ rather than a ‘stem,’ but these terms appear to be interchangeable as the axis that bears the leaves.

NOTE: (liverworts) “A perigynium is a fleshy, tubular structure surrounding the archegonium and the developing sporophyte, and is derived from stem tissue. A coelocaule is a specialized upright perigynium, characterized by extreme axial growth and complete penetration of the sporophyte into the shoot [stem or branch] apex” (Katagiri and Deguchi).

NOTE: (liverworts)

“The archegonia, and later the developing sporophytes, have a greater variety of protective structures [than the antheridia have]. The thin, laminar envelope immediately surrounding the young sporophyte is the calyptra. This calyptra is encircled by the perianth, which is derived from modified leaves.... In species that do not develop a perianth or have a reduced one, another structure, the perigynium, may be formed around the developing sporophyte. Depending on its origin, this structure, which is often fleshy, may be a shoot calyptra, a marsupium, or a coelocaule, with stem or calyptra (or both) involved in its formation. In thalloid forms lacking a perianth, an involucre may arise from the thallus to surround the archegonia. In addition, the thallus tissue may give rise to another envelope, the pseudoperianth, which surrounds the calyptra after fertilization” (Hicks).