basidiomycete

Any of various fungi belonging to the phylum Basidomycota, bearing sexually produced spores on a basidium. All hyphae of basidiomycetes are divided into segments by septa and go through three stages of development. In the final stage, each segment has two nuclei, and the hyphae grow to produce basidia and disperse basidiospores. The basidiomycetes are the most familiar forms of fungi and include mushrooms, puffballs, shelf fungi, rusts, and smuts.