oophyte Meaning, Definition & Usage

Gr. an egg + a plant.

(Bot.) Any plant of a proposed class or grand division (collectively termed oöphytes or Oöphyta), which have their sexual reproduction accomplished by motile antherozoids acting on oöspheres, either while included in their oögonia or after exclusion. ✍ This class was at first called Oösporeæ, and is made to include all algæ and fungi which have this kind of reproduction, however they may differ in all other respects, the contrasted classes of Thallophytes being Protophytes, Zygophytes, and Carpophytes. The whole system has its earnest advocates, but is rejected by many botanists. See Carpophyte.