Glossary
Like the rest of this website, the glossary is a work in progress. If we’ve missed a term, please contact us to let us know the term and references.
Cruciform
Cruciform describes objects as having the shape of a cross. Cruciform is usually used to describe the valve outline of some diatoms.
Image Credit: Eduardo Morales
Image Credit: Eduardo Morales
Image Credit: Eduardo Morales
A scanning electron micrograph showing the intricate sculpturing of the outside of a valve of Staurosirella leptostauron. Spines project from the costae, lineolate areolae make up the striae, and porelli (minute openings) compose the apical pore fields.
Image Credit: Eduardo Morales
Light micrograph of Staurosirella leptostauron, a species with a cruciform valve outline.