 More specifically, paraphyses are sterile filamentous hyphal end cells composing part of the hymenium of Ascomycota and Basidiomycota interspersed among either the asci or basidia respectively, and not sufficiently differentiated into specialized, swollen, often protruding cells to be called cystidia.The tips of paraphyses may contain the pigments which colour the hymenium.In ferns and mosses, they are the filament-like structures that are found on sporangia.