Ba·sid·i·o·my·co·ta n. pl. Bot.  Bot. 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).
 Note: In the 1913 Webster, the Basidiomycetes were defined as "coördinate with the Ascomycetes", and other fungal phyla (the Zygomycota and Deuteromycota) were not mentioned.
 Syn: -- Basidiomycota, subdivision Basidiomycota, subdivision Basidiomycotina.
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 Basidiomycota
      n : comprises fungi bearing the spores on a basidium; includes
          Gasteromycetes (puffballs) and Tiliomycetes comprising
          the orders Ustilaginales (smuts) and Uredinales (rusts)
          and Hymenomycetes (mushrooms, toadstools, agarics and
          bracket fungi); in some classification systems considered
          a division of kingdom Fungi [syn: subdivision
          Basidiomycota, Basidiomycotina, subdivision
          Basidiomycotina]