Thallus, from Latinized Greek θαλλός (thallos), meaning a green shoot or twig, is the undifferentiated vegetative tissue of some organisms in diverse groups such as algae, fungus, some liverworts, lichens, and the Myxogastria. Many of these organisms were previously known as the thallophytes, a polyphyletic group of distantly related organisms. An organism or structure resembling a thallus is called thalloid, thallodal, thalliform, thalline, or thallose.
A thallus usually names the entire body of a multicellular non-moving organism in which there is no organization of the tissues into organs.[1] Even though thalli do not have organized and distinct parts (leaves, roots, and stems) as do the vascular plants, they may have analogous structures that resemble their vascular "equivalents". The analogous structures have similar function or macroscopic structure, but different microscopic structure; for example, no thallus has vascular tissue.
Although a thallus is largely undifferentiated in terms of its anatomy, there can be visible differences and functional differences. A kelp, for example, may have its thallus divided into three regions. The parts of a kelp thallus include the holdfast (anchor), stipe (supports the blades) and the blades (for photosynthesis).
The thallus of a fungus is usually called a mycelium. The term thallus is also commonly used to refer to the vegetative body of a lichen. In seaweed, thallus is sometimes also called frond.
The gametophyte of some non-thallophyte plants -- clubmosses, horsetails, and ferns is termed "prothallus".
References [link]
- ^ Haupt, Arthur W. (1953). Plant Morphology. New York: McGraw-Hill Book company. p. 7.
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Thallus (poet)
Thallus of Miletus (Greek: Θαλλός), was an epigrammatic poet, five of whose epigrams are preserved in the Greek Anthology. Of these the first is in honour of the birthday of a Roman emperor, or one of the imperial family, on which account Bovinus supposes the poet to be the same person who is mentioned in an extant inscription as a freedman of Germanicus. The name is given in various forms: Thalos, Thyelaus, Thyillus ; it may have arisen from a confusion between the poet and the celebrated philosopher, Thales of Miletus. The name Thallos occurs frequently in inscriptions from Attica and Ionia.
References
Sources
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Smith, William, ed. (1870). "article name needed". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology.
Thallus (historian)
Thallus (Greek: Θαλλός) was an early historian who wrote in Koine Greek. He wrote a three-volume history of the Mediterranean world from before the Trojan War to the 167th Olympiad, c. 112-109 BC. Most of his work, like the vast majority of ancient literature, has been lost, although some of his writings were quoted by Sextus Julius Africanus in his History of the World.
The works are considered important by some Christians because they believe them to confirm the historicity of Jesus and provide non-Christian validation of the Gospel accounts: a reference to a historical eclipse, attributed to Thallus, has been taken as a mention of the worldwide darkness described in the Synoptic gospels account of the death of Jesus, although an eclipse could not have taken place during Passover when this took place. Modern scholars see the darkness as a literary creation rather than a historical event.
