peristome

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English

A diagram of the moss Funaria hygrometrica, from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article Bryophyta; the peristome is labelled "p"

Etymology

From peri- +‎ Ancient Greek στόμα (stóma, “mouth”).

Noun

peristome (plural peristomes)

  1. (botany) One or two rings of tooth-like appendages surrounding the opening of the capsule of many mosses.
  2. (zoology) The parts of or surrounding the mouths of numerous invertebrates.
    • 1911, “Polyp”, in Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition:
      We can distinguish therefore in the body of a polyp the column, circular or oval in section, forming the trunk, resting on a base or foot and surmounted by the crown of tentacles, which enclose an area termed the peristome, in the centre of which again is the mouth. […] The mouth may be level with the surface of the peristome, or may be projecting and trumpet-shaped.
  3. The lip, or edge of the aperture, of a spiral shell.

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