basidiocarp

The reproductive organ of all basidiomycete fungi (except the Usti-laginales and Uredinales), which bears the basidia (see basidium). It may be *mushroom shaped, bracket shaped, club shaped, or a hollow sphere or cylinder. Much of the basidiocarp is composed of sterile pseudoparenchymatous tissue. The basidia are borne in a fertile layer, the *hymenium.