The fruiting body or spore-producing structure of an ascomycete fungus that contains the asci (spore sacs).
From New Latin, combining Greek askos (wineskin, bladder) + -ma (suffix indicating result or product). The term was developed in the 1800s to describe the visible fruiting structures scientists could observe under microscopes.
An ascoma is essentially a fungal fruit—just like an apple contains seeds, an ascoma contains thousands of microscopic spores ready to spread and create new fungi.
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