Basidium


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

C, A basidium before the four nuclei derived from the secondary nucleus of the basidium have passed into the four basidiospores.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 Various

They are characterized by their principal spores being produced externally, usually in fours, upon an organ called a basidium.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 3 Various

During the tetrad division in the basidium nuclear reduction occurs.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 Various

This conjugate condition is finally brought to a close by the nuclear fusion in the basidium.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 Various

When the four spores are full grown they have consumed all the protoplasm in the basidium.
The Mushroom, Edible and Otherwise M. E. Hard

Between the nuclear association and the nuclear fusion in the basidium many thousands of cell generations may be intercalated.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 Various

basidium, the characteristic spore-producing organ of the Basidiomycetes.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Vol. 1 Part 3 Various

The sporophyte may be considered to begin at the stage of nuclear association and end with the nuclear reduction in the basidium.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 Various

Life-history always very simple, no well-marked alternation of generations; basidium borne directly on the mycelium.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 Various

There is also a further reduction in that the basidium is not derived from a teleutospore but is borne directly on the mycelium.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 11, Slice 3 Various

noun (pl) -ia (-ɪə)
the structure, produced by basidiomycetous fungi after sexual reproduction, in which spores are formed at the tips of projecting slender stalks

basidium ba·sid·i·um (bə-sĭd’ē-əm)
n. pl. ba·sid·i·a (-ē-ə)
A small club-shaped structure typically bearing four spores at the tips of minute projections, unique to Basidiomycetes and used as a distinguishing characterisitic.
basidium
(bə-sĭd’ē-əm)
Plural basidia
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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  • Basidiocarp

    the fruiting body of basidiomycetes that produces the basidia. noun the fruiting body of basidiomycetous fungi; the mushroom of agarics basidiocarp (bə-sĭd’ē-ə-kärp’) A basidioma. This term is no longer in scientific use.

  • Basidioma

    basidioma basidioma (bə-sĭd’ē-ō’mə) Plural basidiomata (bə-sĭd’ē-ō’mə-tə) A club-shaped, fleshy, spore-producing structure characteristic of many species of basidiomycete fungi. The basidioma grows out of the mass of hyphae known as a mycelium and bears the spore-dispersing structures called basidia. Mushrooms, toadstools, stinkhorns, and puffballs are basidiomata.

  • Basidiomata

    basidiomata basidioma (bə-sĭd’ē-ō’mə) Plural basidiomata (bə-sĭd’ē-ō’mə-tə) A club-shaped, fleshy, spore-producing structure characteristic of many species of basidiomycete fungi. The basidioma grows out of the mass of hyphae known as a mycelium and bears the spore-dispersing structures called basidia. Mushrooms, toadstools, stinkhorns, and puffballs are basidiomata.

  • Basidiomycete

    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. noun any fungus of the phylum Basidiomycota (formerly class Basidiomycetes), in which the […]

  • Basidiomycetes

    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. Historical Examples They are called sporidia to separate them from the basidiomycetes. The […]


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