{{Short description|Structure in some species of fungi}} {{wiktionary}} thumb|The sterigmata are the slender extensions that connect the spores (green) to the basidia (red). [[File:Picea glauca twig Denali NP AK.jpg|thumb|The sterigmata remain as small projections on twigs of ''Picea'' and ''Tsuga'' after the leaves have fallen.]] In biology, a '''sterigma''' ({{plural form}}: '''sterigmata''') is a small supporting structure.
It commonly refers to an extension of the basidium (the spore-bearing cells) consisting of a basal filamentous part and a slender projection which carries a spore at the tip.<ref name="Kirk 2008"/> The sterigmata are formed on the basidium as it develops and undergoes meiosis, to result in the production of (typically) four nuclei. The nuclei gradually migrate to the tips of the basidium, and one nucleus will migrate into each spore that develops at the tip of each sterigma.<ref name="Ammirati 1985"/>
In less common usage, a sterigma is a structure within the posterior end of the genitalia of female Lepidoptera.<ref name="Powell 2009"/>
It also refers to the stem-like structure, also called a "woody peg" at the base of the leaves of some, but not all conifers, specifically ''Picea'' and ''Tsuga''.<ref name="Eckenwalder 2009"/>
==References== {{Reflist|refs= *<ref name="Ammirati 1985">{{cite book |vauthors=Ammirati J, Traquair JA, Horgen PA |title=Poisonous Mushrooms of the Northern United States and Canada |year=1985 |publisher=Fitzhenry & Whiteside in cooperation with Agriculture Canada |location=Minneapolis |isbn=978-0-88902-977-4 |page=28}}</ref> *<ref name="Eckenwalder 2009">{{cite book |year=2009 |author=Eckenwalder JE. |publisher=Timber Press |location=Portland |isbn=978-0-88192-974-4 |title=Conifers of the World: The Complete Reference}}</ref> *<ref name="Kirk 2008">{{cite book |vauthors=Kirk PM, Cannon PF, Minter DW, Stalpers JA |title=Dictionary of the Fungi |edition=10th |publisher=CABI |location=Wallingford, UK |year=2008 |page=665 |isbn=978-0-85199-826-8}}</ref> *<ref name="Powell 2009">{{cite book |vauthors=Powell JA, Opler PA |url=http://www.ucpress.edu/content/chapters/10255.ch01.pdf |chapter=Introduction to Lepidoptera and Moths |title=Moths of Western North America |year=2009 |isbn=978-0-520-25197-7 |publisher=University of California Press |page=6}}</ref> }}{{Insect-anatomy-stub}} Category:Fungal morphology and anatomy Category:Plant morphology Category:Insect anatomy