The Collaborative International Dictionary
Statoblast \Stat"o*blast\ (st[a^]t"[-o]*bl[a^]st), n. [Gr. stato`s standing (i. e., remaining) + -blast.] (Zo["o]l.) One of a peculiar kind of internal buds, or germs, produced in the interior of certain Bryozoa and sponges, especially in the fresh-water species; -- also called winter buds.
Note: They are protected by a firm covering, and are usually destined to perpetuate the species during the winter season. They burst open and develop in the spring. In some fresh-water sponges they serve to preserve the species during the dry season. See Illust. under Phylactol[ae]mata.
Usage examples of "winter buds".
In the winter buds of many of these plants lie dormant in a fluffy sheath which protects them from cold.
Under her influence their winter buds had opened into leaves and snowy blossoms.
It was carved of a single piece of Fu-chui jade, the rarest of its kind, a luminescent, translucent green the color of spring leaves just as they unfold from their winter buds.