scle·ro·ti·um 
(sklə-rōshē-əm, -shəm)
(sklə-rōshē-əm, -shəm)n. pl. scle·ro·ti·a (-shē-ə, -shə)
A hard, dormant, multicellular structure found in certain fungi and slime molds.
[New Latin, from Greek sklērotēs, hardness, from sklēros, hard.]
scle·roti·al (-rōshē-əl, -shəl) adj.