basidium

American  

[buh-sid-ee-uhm] / bəˈsɪd i əm /

noun

Mycology.

plural

basidia

1. a special form of sporophore, characteristic of basidiomycetous fungi, on which the sexual spores are borne, usually at the tips of slender projections.

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basidium British  

/ bæˈsɪdɪəm /

noun

1. the structure, produced by basidiomycetous fungi after sexual reproduction, in which spores are formed at the tips of projecting slender stalks

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basidium Scientific  

/ bə-sĭd′ē-əm /

plural

basidia

1. A small, specialized, club-shaped structure typically bearing four basidiospores at the tips of minute projections in the fungi known as basidiomycetes. The basidium is unique to basidiomycetes and distinguishes them from other kinds of fungi.

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Other Word Forms

• basidial adjective

Etymology

Origin of basidium

First recorded in 1855–60; bas(is) + -idium

Example Sentences

Other series of modifications arise in which the tissues corresponding to the stroma invest the sporogenous hyphal ends, and thus enclose the spores, asci, basidia, &c., in a cavity.

From Project Gutenberg

Exobasidiine�, a family of parasitic basidiomycetous Fungi, resembling the Exoascine� in most respects, but producing basidia in place of asci, a remarkable instance of parallel evolution.

From Project Gutenberg

They are characterized by their principal spores being produced externally, usually in fours, upon an organ called a basidium.

From Project Gutenberg

Saccardo, in defining the terms which he employs, accepts the term spores as applicable exclusively to the naked spores supported on basidia, as found in the Basidiomycete�.

From Project Gutenberg

As the spores approach maturity, the connection between their contents and the contents of the basidia diminishes and ultimately ceases.

From Project Gutenberg