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The Collaborative International Dictionary
Peristome

Peristome \Per"i*stome\, n. [Pref. peri- + Gr. ?, ?, mouth.]

  1. (Bot.) The fringe of teeth around the orifice of the capsule of mosses. It consists of 4, 8, 16, 32, or 64 teeth, and may be either single or double.

  2. (Zo["o]l.)

    1. The lip, or edge of the aperture, of a spiral shell.

    2. The membrane surrounding the mouth of an invertebrate animal.

Wiktionary
peristome

n. 1 (context botany English) One or two rings of tooth-like appendages surrounding the opening of the capsule of many mosses. 2 (context zoology English) The parts of or surrounding the mouths of numerous invertebrates. 3 The lip, or edge of the aperture, of a spiral shell.

WordNet
peristome
  1. n. (botany) fringe of toothlike appendages surrounding the mouth of a moss capsule

  2. region around the mouth in various invertebrates

Wikipedia
Peristome

Peristome (from the Greek peri, meaning 'around' or 'about', and stoma, 'mouth') is an anatomical feature that surrounds an opening to an organ or structure. Some plants, fungi, and shelled gastropods have peristomes.

Usage examples of "peristome".

These, with seven or eight long bristles on both sides of the peristome, form a sort of net over the valve, which would tend to prevent all animals, excepting very small ones, entering the bladder.

There are no bristles on the outside of the collar or peristome, as in the foregoing species.

More usually there is a peristome, consisting of one or two series of teeth, which serves to narrow the opening and in various ways to ensure the gradual shedding of the spores in dry weather.

Modern classifications of the Bryales depend mainly on the construction of the peristome.