A fruiting body or spore-producing structure in certain types of fungi, particularly in rust fungi, that releases spores capable of infecting different plant hosts.
From Greek kainos (new) + -oma (growth, tumor), or possibly from a Latinized Greek form. A specialized mycological term developed in the 19th century.
Rust fungi have an incredibly complex life cycle—they can live on different plants at different life stages, using structures like caeomas to spread and evolve strategies to avoid plant defenses!
Complete word intelligence in one call. Free tier — 50 lookups/day.