An intracellular non-membrane-bounded organelle found in multi-ciliated sperm cells of some primitive land plants, and consisting of many radially arranged ninefold symmetric cylinders. The blepharoplast is involved in de novo formation of multiple centrioles; it enlarges and then disintegrates into many procentrioles, which elongate and ultimately nucleate cilia on the surface of the sperm cell.
Comment:
The blepharoplast should not be confused with a basal body; rather, it acts as the precursor assembly zone for multiple basal bodies.