{{short description|Undifferentiated vegetative tissue of certain organisms}} {{about|the undifferentiated tissue}} {{Redirect|Thalli|the Indian village|Thally}} [[File:Pellia epiphylla 200108.jpg|thumb|300x300px|Thallus of ''Pellia epiphylla'']] '''Thallus''' ({{plural form}}: '''thalli'''), from Latinized Greek {{Lang|el|θαλλός}} ({{Lang|el-Latn|thallos}}), meaning "a green shoot" or "twig", is the vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungi, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. A thallus usually names the entire body of a multicellular non-moving organism in which there is no organization of the tissues into organs.<ref>{{cite book |last=Haupt |first=Arthur W. |url=https://archive.org/details/plantmorphology00haup |title=Plant Morphology |publisher=McGraw-Hill Book company |year=1953 |location=New York |page=[https://archive.org/details/plantmorphology00haup/page/7 7]}}</ref> Many of these organisms were previously known as the thallophytes, a polyphyletic group of distantly related organisms. An organism or structure resembling a thallus is called '''thalloid''', '''thalloidal''', '''thalliform''', '''thalline''', or '''thallose'''.
Even though thalli do not have organized and distinct parts (leaves, roots, and stems) as do the vascular plants, they may have analogous structures that resemble their vascular "equivalents". The analogous structures have similar function or macroscopic structure, but different microscopic structure; for example, no thallus has vascular tissue. In exceptional cases such as the Lemnoideae, where the structure of a vascular plant is thallus-like, it is referred to as having a thalloid structure, or sometimes as a thalloid.
Although a thallus is largely undifferentiated in terms of its anatomy, there can be visible differences and functional differences. A kelp, for example, may have its thallus divided into three regions. The parts of a kelp thallus include the holdfast (anchor), stipe (supports the blades) and the blades (for photosynthesis).<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/wong/Bot201/Myxomycota/Thallusdefinition.htm|title=The term thallus is a botanical term that refers to the body of a plant that does not have leaves|website=www.botany.hawaii.edu}}</ref>
The thallus of a fungus is usually called a mycelium. The term thallus is also commonly used to refer to the vegetative body of a lichen. In seaweed, thallus is sometimes also called 'frond'.
The gametophyte of some non-thallophyte plants – clubmosses, horsetails, and ferns is termed "prothallus".
==See also== * Homothallism * Heterothallism * ''Wengania''
==References== {{Reflist}}
Category:Plant morphology Category:Fungal morphology and anatomy