sclerotium

scle·ro·ti·um  (skl-rsh-m, -shm)

n. pl. scle·ro·ti·a (-sh-, -sh)

A dense mass of branched hyphae, as in certain fungi, that contain stored food and are capable of remaining dormant for long periods.

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[New Latin, from Greek sklrots, hardness, from sklros, hard.]

Thesaurus

Noun	1.	Sclerotium - form genus of sterile imperfect fungi; many form sclerotia; some cause sclerotium disease in plants genus Sclerotium fungus genus - includes lichen genera Mycelia Sterilia, order Mycelia Sterilia - order of imperfect fungi having no known spore stage
	2.	sclerotium - compact usually dark-colored mass of hardened mycelium constituting a vegetative food-storage body in various true fungi; detaches when mature and can give rise to new growth mycelium - the vegetative part of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching threadlike hyphae