pyxidium

noun

1. A seed capsule in the form of a box, the seeds being released when the top splits off.

   “Key to Species of Cariniana Inflorescence predominantly terminal and subterminal; pyxidium without teeth at line of opercular dehiscence.”

   “The pyxidium has the trigonoidly cylindrical or obconical form of that of Couratari, but it is much thicker, heavier, and more solid in substance.”

   “The capsule of gold−beater's skin, in which the grubs of the Cione are enclosed, divides itself, at the moment of liberation, into two hemispheres "of a regularity so perfect that they recall exactly the bursting of the pyxidium when the seed is distributed".”

   “A fruit of this kind is sometimes termed a pyxidium; that is, a little chest.”