spores - 2026 ACF Regionals

Packet E: Tossup 13

These structures are classified as alete if their surfaces lack laesura or ridge lines. Buildup of Buller’s drops accompanies the release of these structures in a “surface tension catapult” mechanism. These structures are concentrated in strobili by Equisetum. Blastic and thallic processes produce a non-motile type of these (10[1])structures called conidia. (-5[2])Columella support “vessels” (10[1])enclosing these structures, which are singular and unbranched (-5[1])in bryophytes. (10[1]-5[1])A haploid (-5[1])gametophyte (-5[1])phase (-5[2])contrasts with a diploid (10[1])phase (10[1])that produces (-5[1])these (10[2])structures (10[8]-5[1])in alternation (10[1]-5[2])of generations. (10[5]-5[2])Puffballs (-5[1])have fruiting (10[1])bodies (10[1]-5[2])that (10[1])burst (10[3])to release (10[3])these (10[1])structures, (10[7]-5[5])which are formed (-5[1])in gills (10[3])beneath (-5[1])the cap. (10[1])For 10 points, (10[1])name these reproductive structures (10[1])that, (10[1])unlike seeds, are dispersed (10[1])as (10[1])unicellular units. (10[2])■END■ (10[24]0[3])

ANSWER: spores [accept sporangium or sporangia; accept microspores or microsporangium or microsporangia; accept megaspores or megasporangium or microsporangia; accept sporophytes or sporophyte phase; accept sporeling; accept chlamydospores; accept conidium or conidia or conidiospores until read; prompt on fruiting bodies until read by asking “what is the core reproductive structure in them?”; reject “endospores”]

<Toronto B, Biology> | Packet E - Chicago A, Toronto B, Brandeis B, JHU A

= Average correct buzzpoint

Back to tossups

Buzzes

Player	Team	Opponent	Buzzpoint	Value
Ted Warner	Bristol	Cambridge B	47	10
Jacob Goodson	Ohio State C	Michigan B	50	-5
Alex Jiang	Brown	Harvard A	50	-5
Patrick Boyle	Notre Dame A	Indiana A	53	10
Jason Lee	Rutgers B	Georgetown	61	-5
Stephen Walsh	Northwestern B	Northwestern C	63	10
Krishna Girish	Montpellier	Birmingham	63	-5
Monish Jampala	Georgia Tech D	Mississipi State	65	-5
Chauncey Lo	Columbia C	Swarthmore	66	-5
Yoyo Liu	UBC B	Brock	67	-5
Aiden Dartley	Rutgers A	Maryland A	67	-5
Zach Foster	City St. George's	Cambridge C	71	10
Yashwanth Bajji	Michigan A	Ohio State A	72	10
Albert Nyang	LSE	UCL	74	-5
Pace Klein	CWRU A	Michigan State	75	10
Dennis Reppen	Imperial A	Oxford A	75	10
Vinu Harihar	Berkeley B	Stanford B	76	10
Fern Fang	VCU	Duke	76	10
Samarth Ram	Chicago B	Northwestern D	76	10
Andrew Wang	Illinois A	Notre Dame B	76	10
Matthew Westley	Purdue A	Illinois C	76	10
Alexander Clarke	Yale	Bowdoin A	76	10
Camden Walker	WashU B	Alabama A	76	-5
Snehan Saroch	Louisville A	Georgia Tech B	76	10
Oscar Despard	Cambridge A	Warwick A	76	10
Michał Gerasimiuk	Stanford A	Berkeley C	78	-5
Fish Tsai	UCSD A	UC Santa Barbara	78	-5
Rohan Dalal	Georgia Tech A	Missouri A	78	10
Andrew Nucci	UCLA B	UC Irvine	80	10
Ilyas Choukri	Virginia Tech A	NC State A	80	10
Jiping Fang	Illinois B	Indiana C	80	-5
Matthew He	Texas A	Texas B	80	10
Moses Kitakule	Columbia A	Maryland C	80	10
Xavier Bornhorst	Maryland B	Columbia B	80	10
Pranaav Senthilkumar	Cornell B	Binghamton B	80	-5
Erin Williams	James Madison A	Liberty A	81	-5
Shiva Tegulla	Central Florida A	Florida A	83	10
Rohan Navaneetha Raj	Ohio State B	CWRU B	84	10
Joel Miles	Minnesota A	Claremont	84	-5
Tommy Donelon	Missouri B	Carleton College	84	-5
Joseph Strom	Louisville B	Vanderbilt B	85	10
Khanh Nguyen	Florida C	Central Florida B	86	10
Paige Crawley	Oxford B	Imperial C	86	10
Ali Hamzeh	Edinburgh A	Manchester	86	10
Nathan Long	Imperial B	Southampton A	88	10
Danny Fisher	Warwick B	Oxford C	88	10
Aiden Bang	Johns Hopkins B	Catholic	88	10
Alec Riso	Cornell A	RIT	89	10
Ariel Faeder	Pittsburgh	Michigan C	90	10
Chris Yoo	William and Mary	James Madison B	90	10
Liam Rojas	Virginia	Wake Forest	90	-5
Sasha Tripathi	Chicago C	Chicago E	90	10
Max Neal	Harvard B	Bowdoin B	90	-5
Beck Faletti	Washington A	Iowa State	90	10
Sushanth Balaraman	Texas A&M A	Murray State A	90	-5
Olivia Kiser	Kentucky	WashU A	90	10
Graham Cope	Georgia Tech C	Tennessee A	90	-5
Aisling Skeet	Durham	Edinburgh B	90	-5
Jerry Vinokurov	John Jay	NYU C	90	10
Andrew Miller	Binghamton A	Rochester	90	10
Caleb Slusher	South Carolina A	North Carolina B	93	-5
Rishabh Dave	Berkeley D	Berkeley A	95	10
Matthew Forster	Dartmouth A	Dartmouth B	95	10
Roselyn Daffin	Southampton B	Cardiff	95	10
Kelvin Ni	NYU B	Vassar	96	-5
Terrence Han	UCLA A	UCSD C	98	10
Ben Tibbles	Sewanee	Alabama B	101	10
Jack Feinberg	Brandeis A	Southern Connecticut State	105	10
Katie Young	Liberty C	NC State B	106	10
Ani Perumalla	Penn State	Cornell C	110	10
Fionn O'Connor	South Carolina B	North Carolina A	111	10
Nicholas Cuevas	Florida B	Central Florida C	113	10
Ted Harrison	Edinburgh B	Durham	113	10
Abby Smith	Berkeley C	Stanford A	114	10
Winston Zuo	UC Santa Barbara	UCSD A	114	10
Kerry Xu	UCSD B	Arizona State	114	10
Milan Fernandez	Brock	UBC B	114	10
Rachel Fanous	Michigan B	Ohio State C	114	10
Josh Schmidt	Liberty A	James Madison A	114	10
Abby Keith	Liberty B	North Carolina C	114	0
Neal Sengupta	North Carolina C	Liberty B	114	0
Joshua Iyo	North Carolina B	South Carolina A	114	10
James Watson	Wake Forest	Virginia	114	10
Tobias Cortes	Indiana C	Illinois B	114	10
Aneesh Shrotriya	Purdue B	Indiana B	114	10
Rohan Ganeshan	Harvard A	Brown	114	10
Jeremy Ryu	Bowdoin B	Harvard B	114	0
Annika Larson	Claremont	Minnesota A	114	10
Dominik Polley	Carleton College	Missouri B	114	10
Camrun Scott	Murray State A	Texas A&M A	114	10
Tomas Ospina	Alabama A	WashU B	114	10
Sawyer Smith	Mississipi State	Georgia Tech D	114	10
Parker McCoig	Tennessee A	Georgia Tech C	114	10
Mikey Brown	Birmingham	Montpellier	114	10
Eva West	UCL	LSE	114	10
Andy Yu	Maryland A	Rutgers A	114	10
Vayun Krishna	Georgetown	Rutgers B	114	10
Ben Hellman	Swarthmore	Columbia C	114	10
Eli Young	Vassar	NYU B	114	10
Molly Oakley	Binghamton B	Cornell B	114	10

Summary

Tournament	Edition	Match	Heard	Conv. %	Neg %	Avg. Buzz
California (North)	Main Site	✓	3	100%	33%	95.00
California (South)	Main Site	✓	4	100%	25%	101.50
Canada	Main Site	✓	1	100%	100%	114.00
Florida	Main Site	✓	3	100%	0%	94.00
Great Lakes	Main Site	✓	5	100%	20%	87.00
Lower Mid-Atlantic	Main Site	✓	9	89%	33%	100.63
Midwest	Main Site	✓	8	100%	13%	82.75
Northeast	Main Site	✓	5	80%	40%	97.50
Overflow	Main Site	✓	4	100%	50%	99.00
South Central	Main Site	✓	2	100%	50%	97.00
Southeast	Main Site	✓	7	100%	43%	99.14
UK	Main Site	✓	12	100%	25%	87.75
Upper Mid-Atlantic	Main Site	✓	8	100%	50%	99.25
Upstate NY	Main Site	✓	4	100%	25%	100.75