A veil-like membrane in fungi, especially the cobweb-like structure in certain mushrooms.
From Latin cortina (curtain, veil). This botanical term directly borrows the Latin word, emphasizing the curtain-like appearance of the fungal structure.
The cortine is actually stronger than it looks—under a microscope, it's made of specially arranged fungal threads (hyphae) woven together like a microscopic textile, an engineering marvel of nature.
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