Definition of "aecium"

aecium

/ˈiːs.i.əm/

noun
plural aecia or aeciums
1. (mycology) A cuplike fruiting structure of some parasitic rust fungi that contains chains of aeciospores.
  Quotations
  The writer therefore made observations to determine the conditions under which the aecia open and discharge spores most readily.
  1932 August, Ralph Ulysses Cotter, Factors Affecting the Development of the Aecial Stage of Puccinia Graminis, US Dept of Agriculture, Technical Bulletin No. 314, page 29
  The receptive hyphae with binucleate cells eventually form the basal cells of the aecium. […] Many cup-like structures, called aecia, appear on the lower surface of leaf.
  2010, N. K. Soni, Vandana Soni, Fundamentals of Botany, volume 1, page 127
  It is a heteroecious rust and its aecia are produced on species of Oxalis, namely O. stricta, according to Arthur (1929).
  2010, M. S. Patil, Anjali Patil, “16: The Rust Fungi: Systematics, Diseases and Their Management”, in Arun Arya, Analía Edith Perelló, editors, Management of Fungal Plant Pathogens, page 209