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A basidium () is a microscopic
A basidium () is a microscopic sporangium
A sporangium (; from Late Latin, ) is an enclosure in which spores are formed. It can be composed of a single cell or can be multicellular. Virtually all plants, fungi, and many other lineages form sporangia at some point in their life c ...
(a spore
In biology, a spore is a unit of sexual or asexual reproduction that may be adapted for dispersal and for survival, often for extended periods of time, in unfavourable conditions. Spores form part of the life cycles of many plants, algae, ...
-producing structure) found on the hymenophore
A hymenophore refers to the hymenium-bearing structure of a fungal fruiting body
The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidi ...
of fruiting bodies
The sporocarp (also known as fruiting body, fruit body or fruitbody) of fungi is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruitbody is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cycl ...
of basidiomycete
Basidiomycota () is one of two large divisions that, together with the Ascomycota, constitute the subkingdom Dikarya (often referred to as the "higher fungi") within the kingdom Fungi. Members are known as basidiomycetes. More specifically, Basi ...
fungi which are also called tertiary mycelium
Mycelium (plural mycelia) is a root-like structure of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching, thread-like hyphae. Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are found in and on soil and many other substrates. A typical single spore germinates in ...
, developed from secondary mycelium. Tertiary mycelium is highly-coiled secondary myceliuma dikaryon The dikaryon is a nuclear feature which is unique to certain fungi. (The green alga '' Derbesia'' had been long considered an exception, until the heterokaryotic hypothesis was challenged by later studies.) Compatible cell-types can fuse cytoplasms ...
. The presence of basidia is one of the main characteristic features of the Basidiomycota. A basidium usually bears four sexual spores called basidiospores
A basidiospore is a reproductive spore produced by Basidiomycete fungi, a grouping that includes mushrooms, shelf fungi, rusts, and smuts. Basidiospores typically each contain one haploid nucleus that is the product of meiosis, and they are ...
; occasionally the number may be two or even eight. In a typical basidium, each basidiospore is borne at the