This glossary explains biological, botanical, zoological and mycological terms, as well as terms used in cecidology. It is intended to make the numerous technical terms used in the photo gallery and on the information pages of this website easier to understand.
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Ectophagous
A term for organisms that feed on the outside of a food plant or host.
Endoparasites
Endoparasites (from endo-, Greek parasitos = parasite), also called internal parasites, are organisms that live inside other organisms, in extreme cases inside cells, for an extended period or throughout their life cycle and obtain food parasitically. In animal endoparasites, distinctions include blood parasites and intestinal parasites. In the latter, mouthparts and the digestive tract are often greatly reduced, and food is absorbed through the entire body surface. Examples include the protozoan Trypanosoma, tapeworms, the snail Entoconcha and the botfly Gasterophilus (Gasterophilidae). Various bacteria and fungi are also endoparasitic. Higher plants such as members of Rafflesiaceae (Cytinus, Rafflesia) may also be described as endoparasites: like fungi, they penetrate the tissues of their host plants and emerge only for flowering.
Endoperidium
The endoperidium is the inner layer of the peridium. It is usually thin and directly encloses the spore mass of gasteroid fungi. With age it becomes papery.
Episporium
The outer layer of the spore wall, which in some fungal groups is clearly differentiated from the other wall layers.
Erineum
Erinea are abnormal local felt-like growths on the surface of leaves of various plant species (felt galls). They are generally gall formations caused by mites, for example felt patches produced by the gall mite Aceria varia.
Euryökous
A term for organisms that tolerate very different environmental conditions.
Exoperidium
The exoperidium is the outer layer of the peridium. In puffballs, for example, it may consist of spines; in earthstars it consists of the lobes that bend outward.
Exsiccatum
Exsiccata are dried specimens or dried vouchers of organisms, especially fungi and plants.
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