Ventricose is an adjective describing the condition of a mushroom, gastropod or plant that it is "swollen, distended, or inflated especially on one side".

Mycology

mycology Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy and their use to humans, including as a source for tinder, traditional medicine, food, and entheogens, as ...

, ventricose is a condition in which the

cystidia A cystidium (plural cystidia) is a relatively large cell found on the sporocarp of a basidiomycete (for example, on the surface of a mushroom gill), often between clusters of basidia. Since cystidia have highly varied and distinct shapes that ar ...

lamella Lamella (plural lamellae) means a small plate or flake in Latin, and in English may refer to: Biology * Lamella (mycology), a papery rib beneath a mushroom cap * Lamella (botany) * Lamella (surface anatomy), a plate-like structure in an animal * ...

or stipe of a

mushroom A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. ''Toadstool'' generally denotes one poisonous to humans. The standard for the name "mushroom" is t ...

is swollen in the middle.

Gastropods

In gastropods, if the shell of a snail is ventricose or subventricose, it means the whorl of the shell is swollen.

References

Mycology Fungal morphology and anatomy {{Basidiomycota-stub