blepharoplast

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

1. n. A basal body in certain flagellated protozoans that consists of a minute mass of chromatin embedded in the cytoplasm at the base of the flagellum.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. n. A specialized cilia-forming protoplasmic organ of the sperm-cells of certain plants. It first appears in the spermatozoid mother-cells in the form of a round body with radiating rays of kinoplasm, and through its growth and development gives rise to the motile cilia of the spermatozoids. The organ resembles a centrosome or centrosphere, and may be a modified homologue of that organ of the cell. In Zamia, Cycas, Ginkgo, and certain ferns, two of these organs appear in each spermatozoid mother-cell, one going to each of the two spermatozoids formed therefrom. H. J. Webber, Development of the Antherozoids of Zamia, in Bot. Gazette, July 16, 1897, p. 24.
2. n. In protozoans, a minute granule, of unknown function, at the base of each flagellum, as in Multicilia.