basidium

American  

[buh-sid-ee-uhm] / bəˈsɪd i əm /

noun

Mycology.

basidia plural

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

---

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

---

basidium Scientific  

/ bə-sĭd′ē-əm /

basidia plural

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.

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• basidial
  adjective

Inflected Forms

noun

• basidia
  plural

Etymology

Origin of basidium

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

Example Sentences

A basidium is the fruiting body of a mushroom-producing fungus, and it forms four basidiocarps.

From Textbooks • Jan. 1, 2015

Between the nuclear association and the nuclear fusion in the basidium many thousands of cell generations may be intercalated.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 "Frost" to "Fyzabad" by Various

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

From The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 3 Atrebates to Bedlis by Various

Each projection or sterigma soon swells at its extremity into a bladder-like body, the young spore, and, as they enlarge, the protoplasm of the basidium is passed into them.

From The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise Its Habitat and its Time of Growth by Hard, Miron Elisha

This conjugate condition is finally brought to a close by the nuclear fusion in the basidium.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 "Frost" to "Fyzabad" by Various