apothecium

[Gr. ἀπό ( apo ) = from, and θήκη (thēkē) = a case, chest, or box to put anything in.] [APOTHECARY.] Botany: 1. The scutella or shields constituting the fructification of some lichens. They are little coloured cups or lines with a hard disc, surrounded by a rim, and containing asci or tubes filled with sporules. (Lindley: Introd. to Bot .) 2. The cases in which the organs of reproduction in the Algaceæ, or Sea-weeds, are contained. ( Ibid . , p. 273.)