sorus:
A sorus (pl. sori) is a cluster of sporangia (structures producing and containing spores) in ferns and fungi. This New Latin word is from Ancient Greek σωρός (sōrós ‘stack, pile, heap’). [Wikipedia]
Noted in the Aperture column of NewScientist (10 December 2016):
THESE glowing orbs harbour the progeny of a strange life form. Their goal? To propel that progeny as far away as possible so it can conquer new habitats. An explosive launch will eventually help them disperse their contents.
They are the sporangia of fern plants, found on the underside of their leaves, or fronds. These sporangia grow in clusters called sori and are seen here under a fluorescence microscope, which uses a higher-intensity light source than conventional microscopes and labels the specimens with a fluorescent substance. This results in beautiful images that enhance the 3D features of small specimens: the sporangia don’t normally glow like this.
Follow the link for the pics.
