Bot. Pl. -a. [mod.L., dim. of Gr. ἀρχέγονος founder of a race, f. ἀρχε- = ἀρχι- (see ARCHI-) + γόνος race. Rarely archegon.] The female organ in Cryptogams, corresponding to the pistil in flowering plants.
1854. Balfour, in Encycl. Brit., V. 156/1. The pistillidium or archegonium contains a germ-cell … which produces a germinating body.
1863. Berkeley, Brit. Mosses, iii. 19. The archegon … is flask-shaped.
1872. Oliver, Elem. Bot., II. 288.
