1. (thalamus or torus) The tip of a flower stalk, which bears the petals, sepals, stamens, and carpels. The way the receptacle develops determines the position of the flower parts. It can be dilated and dome-shaped, saucer-shaped, or hollow and enclosing the gynoecium (see epigyny; hypogyny; perigyny). In some plants it may become part of the fruit (see pseudocarp).

2. A swollen part of the thallus of some algae, e.g. Fucus, that bears the conceptacles in which the sex organs are situated.