basidiomycete

American  

[buh-sid-ee-oh-mahy-seet, -mahy-seet] / bəˌsɪd i oʊˈmaɪ sit, -maɪˈsit /

noun

1. Mycology. any of a group of fungi constituting the phylum Basidiomycota of the kingdom Fungi (or, in older classification schemes, the class Basidiomycetes of the kingdom Plantae), characterized by bearing the spores on a basidium, including the smuts, rust, mushrooms, and puffballs.

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basidiomycete British  

/ bæˌsɪdɪəʊmaɪˈsiːt /

noun

1. any fungus of the phylum Basidiomycota (formerly class Basidiomycetes ), in which the spores are produced in basidia. The group includes boletes, puffballs, smuts, and rusts

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basidiomycete Scientific  

/ bə-sĭd′ē-ō-mī′sēt′ /

1. Any of various fungi belonging to the phylum Basidomycota, bearing sexually produced spores on a basidium. All hyphae of basidiomycetes are divided into segments by septa and go through three stages of development. In the final stage, each segment has two nuclei, and the hyphae grow to produce basidia and disperse basidiospores. The basidiomycetes are the most familiar forms of fungi and include mushrooms, puffballs, shelf fungi, rusts, and smuts.

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Other Word Forms

• basidiomycetous adjective

Etymology

Origin of basidiomycete

1895–1900; < New Latin Basidiomycetes; basidium, -o-, -mycete