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.

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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 /

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.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• basidial
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• basidia
  plural

Etymology

Origin of basidium

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

basidium basidia

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

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

During the tetrad division in the basidium nuclear reduction occurs.

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

The basidium is a unicellular or multicellular structure from which four basidiospores arise as outgrowths; it starts as a binucleate structure, but soon, like the ascus, becomes uninucleate by the fusion of the two nuclei.

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

The first named contains a small number of forms with the basidium divided like the promycelium of the Uredineae.

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

The teleutospore puts forth on germination a four-celled structure, the promycelium or basidium, and this bears later four sporidia or basidiospores, one on each cell.

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

Gills on the underside of the mushroom cap contain cells called basidia.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

The “gills” are actually compacted hyphae on which the basidia are borne.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

The basidia undergo karyogamy to form a 2n zygote.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

The basidiocarp bears the developing basidia on the gills under its cap.

From Textbooks ● Jan. 1, 2015

The chief distinction of the Basidiomycetes is that the naked spores are borne on the summits of certain supporting bodies, termed basidia.

From Student's Hand-book of Mushrooms of America, Edible and Poisonous by Taylor, Thomas