Basidiomycota
Basidiomycota , noun, plural
[New Latin, from New Latin & English basidium + Greek {not transcribed}, {not transcribed}, fungus.]
In the 1913 Webster, the Basidiomycetes were defined as "coordinate with the Ascomycetes", and other fungal phyla (the Zygomycota and Deuteromycota) were not mentioned.
(Botany) 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).