Basidiomycetes

Basidiomycetes, Basidiomycetes, a subclass of fungi characterized by special reproductive organs—basidia, on which develop mostly four basidiospores. Basidia are formed either directly on the mycelium or on special fruiting bodies, which are precisely what are known in everyday life as mushrooms. There are over 20,000 species of Basidiomycetes. This includes the most well-known and important groups of fungi (see). These are: 1) so-called cap fungi (family Agaricaceae and Boletaceae), almost all edible, as well as poisonous mushrooms (white boletus, birch boletus, chanterelle, fly agaric, etc.); 2) shelf fungi (family Polyporaceae), growing on trees and destroying their wood; this also includes dry rot fungus and some other destroyers of wooden structures; 3) smut fungi (Ustilaginae) and rust fungi (Uredineae). To these two groups of exclusively parasitic fungi, lacking a fruiting body, belong the most important pests of agricultural crops, especially cereals (smut of oats, wheat, etc.; rust of all kinds of cereals).