— protonemal , adj.
/proh'teuh nee"meuh/ , n. , pl. protonemata /-meuh teuh/ . Bot.
a primary, usually filamentous structure produced by the germination of the spore in mosses and certain related plants, and from which the leafy plant which bears the sexual organs arises as a lateral or terminal shoot.
[ 1855-60; proto- PROTO- + nêma thread ]