Bot. [mod.L., f. sphacelus SPHACELUS, with reference to its effects when eaten.] The first stage of the fungus which produces ergot in rye. Also attrib.
1879. Encycl. Brit., IX. 834/2. The ascospores, on germinating,… give rise again to the sphacelia, which closes the cycle.
1880. Bessey, Botany, 289. In this stage, which is called the Sphacelia stage, it produces a multitude of conidia.
1882. Vines, trans. Sachs’ Bot., 317. The conidia can germinate at once and immediately again detach conidia, which … again produce a sphacelia in other Grasses.
