[ad. mod.L. epiphragma, Gr. ἐπίφραγμα lid, f. ἐπιφράσσειν, f. ἐπί upon + φράσσειν to fence.]
1. Zool. The secretion with which a snail closes the aperture of its shell during hybernation.
1854. Woodward, Mollusca, II. 162. The epiphragm is a layer of hardened mucus, sometimes strengthened with carbonate of lime: it is always minutely perforated opposite the respiratory orifice.
2. Bot. A membrane closing the mouth of the spore-case in urn-mosses and fungi.
[1830. Lindley, Nat. Syst. Bot., 323. The membrane, or epiphragma, which occasionally closes up the orifice of the theca.]
1882. Vines, Sachs’ Bot., 341. As the Fungus matures, the upper part of the peridium becomes stretched and flat, forming the Epiphragm.
