basidiomycete
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ba·sid·i·o·my·cete
(bə-sĭd'ē-ō-mī'sēt', -mī-sēt') 
n.
Any of various members of a large group of fungi bearing sexually produced spores on a basidium. The group includes puffballs, shelf fungi, rusts, smuts, and mushrooms.
n.
Any of various members of a large group of fungi bearing sexually produced spores on a basidium. The group includes puffballs, shelf fungi, rusts, smuts, and mushrooms.
[BASIDI(UM) + -MYCETE.]
basidiomycetous ba·sid'i·o·my·ce'tous (-mī-sē'təs) adj.Britannica Concise Encyclopedia:
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Basidiomycota
Any of a large and diverse phylum of fungi (kingdom Fungi), including jelly and shelf, or bracket, fungi; mushrooms, puffballs, and stinkhorns; and the rusts and smuts. The club-shaped, spore-bearing organ (basidium) is borne on a usually large and conspicuous fruiting body. Basidiomycota includes bird's-nest fungi, whose hollow fruiting bodies resemble nests containing eggs. Species of the subphylum Pucciniomycotina are parasitic on higher plants, particularly azaleas and rhododendrons. Jelly fungi are so called because they have jellylike, often colourful, fruiting bodies. fungus.
For more information on Basidiomycota, visit Britannica.com.
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American Heritage Dictionary
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 1994-2012 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved. Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.
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