Basidium

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Basidium \Ba*sid"i*um\, n. [NL., dim. of Gr. ba`sis base.]
     (Bot.)
     A special oblong or pyriform cell, with slender branches,
     which bears the spores in that division of fungi called
     Basidiomycetes, of which the common mushroom is an example.
     [1913 Webster]



From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  basidium
       n : a small club-shaped structure typically bearing four
           basidiospores at the ends of minute projections; unique
           to basidiomycetes
       [also: {basidia} (pl)]