Sporophore

n. [ Spore + Gr. fe`rein to bear. ] (Bot.) (a) A placenta. (b) That alternately produced form of certain cryptogamous plants, as ferns, mosses, and the like, which is nonsexual, but produces spores in countless numbers. In ferns it is the leafy plant, in mosses the capsule. Cf. Oophore. [ 1913 Webster ]