cryptogamous

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025

cryp•to•gam  (krip′tə gam′), n. [Bot.]

1. Botany any of the Cryptogamia, a former primary division of plants that have no true flowers or seeds and that reproduce by spores, as the ferns, mosses, fungi, and algae.

• Neo-Latin Cryptogamia. See crypto-, -gamy
• 1840–50;

cryp′to•gam′ic, cryp•tog•a•mous  (krip tog′ə məs), cryp′to•gam′i•cal, adj.  cryp•tog′a•mist, n. 
cryp•tog′a•my, n. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

cryptogam / ˈkrɪptəʊˌɡæm/ noun

1. (in former plant classification schemes) any organism that does not produce seeds, including algae, fungi, mosses, and ferns
   Compare phanerogam

Etymology: 19th Century: from New Latin Cryptogamia, from crypto- + Greek gamos marriage

ˌcryptoˈgamic, cryptogamous / krɪpˈtɒɡəməs/ adjective