tapetum

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a reflective or pigmented layer of tissue behind or within the retina of the eye

   The cat's tapetum reflects light through the retina and makes its eyes appear to glow.

2. 2
   noun

   a layer of nutritive cells surrounding the developing spores in a plant's sporangium

   The anther's tapetum supplies nutrients to the developing pollen grains.

From New Latin tapetum, from Latin tapete ("carpet, tapestry"), ultimately from Greek tapes. The anatomical term compares the layer lining the eye to a spread fabric; botany later applied the same image to the cell layer surrounding spore-forming tissue.

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