basidiocarp

Spore-bearing body, or ‘fruiting body’, of all basidiomycete fungi (see fungus), except the rusts and smuts. A well known example is the edible mushroom Agaricus brunnescens. Other types include globular basidiocarps (puffballs) or flat ones that project from tree trunks (brackets). They are made up of a mass of tightly packed, intermeshed hyphae.

The tips of these hyphae develop into the reproductive cells, or basidia, that form a fertile layer known as the hymenium, or gills, of the basidiocarp. Four spores are budded off from the surface of each basidium.