Word Study
Basidiomycota
CIDE DICTIONARY
Basidiomycota, n. pl. [NL., fr. NL. & E. basidium + Gr. , , fungus.].
A large subdivision of the kingdom Fungi coextensive with the phylum Basidiomycetes , characterized by having the spores borne on a basidium. It embraces those fungi best known to the public, such as mushrooms, toadstools, etc. Among the classes of the Basidiomycota are: Gasteromycetes (puffballs); Tiliomycetes (comprising the orders Ustilaginales (smuts) and Uredinales (rusts)); and Hymenomycetes (mushrooms; toadstools; agarics; bracket fungi).
"In the 1913 Webster, the Basidiomycetes were defined as "coördinate with the Ascomycetes ", and other fungal phyla (the Zygomycota and Deuteromycota ) were not mentioned." [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
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