Pycniospores are a type of

spore In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual reproduction, sexual (in fungi) or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for biological dispersal, dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores fo ...

found in certain species of

rust fungi Rusts are fungal plant pathogens of the order Pucciniales (previously known as Uredinales) causing plant fungal diseases. An estimated 168 rust genera and approximately 7,000 species, more than half of which belong to the genus ''Puccinia'', are ...

. They are produced in special cup-like structures called pycnia or pynidia. Almost all fungi reproduce asexually with the production of spores. Spores may be colorless, green, yellow, orange, red, brown or black.

Other types of spore

;Sporangiospores Sporangiospores (spore:spore, angion:sac) are spores formed inside the

sporangium A sporangium (from Late Latin, ; : sporangia) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a unicellular organism, single cell or can be multicellular organism, multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungus, fungi, and many ot ...

which is a spore sac. ;Conidia Conidia (singular:

conidium A conidium ( ; : conidia), sometimes termed an asexual chlamydospore or chlamydoconidium (: chlamydoconidia), is an Asexual reproduction, asexual, non-motility, motile spore of a fungus. The word ''conidium'' comes from the Ancient Greek word f ...

) are spores produced at the tip of special branches called conidiophores. ;Oidia Oidia (singular: oidium). In several fungi, the

hyphae A hypha (; ) is a long, branching, filamentous structure of a fungus, oomycete, or actinobacterium. In most fungi, hyphae are the main mode of vegetative growth, and are collectively called a mycelium. Structure A hypha consists of one o ...

is often divided into a large number of short pieces by transverse walls. Each piece is able to germinate into a new body. These pieces are called oidia (small

egg An egg is an organic vessel grown by an animal to carry a possibly fertilized egg cell (a zygote) and to incubate from it an embryo within the egg until the embryo has become an animal fetus that can survive on its own, at which point the ...

). ;Chlamydospores Chlamydospores (chlymus: mantle) are produced like oidia but differ from oidia in being thick walled. They are either terminal or intercalary.

References

Fungal morphology and anatomy Mycology {{mycology-stub