Dictionary entry

Hyalonema

Webster's Dictionary 1913

‖Hy′a‐lo‐ne″ma (?), n. [NL., fr. Gr. ὕαλοσ glass + � a thread.] (Zoöl.) A genus of hexactinelline sponges, having a long stem composed of very long, slender, transparent, siliceous fibres twisted together like the strands of a color. The stem of the Japanese species (H. Sieboldii), called glass-rope, has long been in use as an ornament. See Glass-rope.