Basidiocarps of Amanita muscaria.

Fruiting body redirects here. This article is on the fruiting bodies of fungi. Multicellular spore-producing structures on fungus-like organisms, such as slime molds, and some colonial bacteria, such as the myxobacteria, are also called "fruiting bodies".

In fungi, the sporocarp (also known as fruiting body) is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. The fruiting body is part of the sexual phase of a fungal life cycle, with the rest of the life cycle being characterized by vegetative mycelial growth. Image File history File links Amanita_muscaria_fruit_bodies. ... Image File history File links Amanita_muscaria_fruit_bodies. ... Binomial name Amanita muscaria (Linnaeus) Hook. ... Typical orders Protostelia    Protosteliida Myxogastria    Liceida    Echinosteliida    Trichiida    Stemonitida    Physarida Dictyostelia    Dictyosteliida Slime moulds are peculiar protists that normally take the form of amoebae, but under certain conditions develop fruiting bodies that release spores, superficially similar to the sporangia of fungi. ... Families & Genera Archangiaceae    Archangium Cystobacteraceae    Cystobacter    Melittangium    Stigmatella Myxoccaceae    Myxococcus    Angiococcus Polyangiaceae    Chondromyces    Nannocystis    Polyangium The myxobacteria are a group of bacteria that predominantly live in the soil. ... Divisions Chytridiomycota Zygomycota Ascomycota Basidiomycota The Fungi (singular: fungus) are a large group of organisms ranked as a kingdom within the Domain Eukaryota. ... This article is about a biological reproductive structure; for the video game, see Spore (video game). ... Basidium is a cell on which the spores of the mushroom are produced. ... ASCI might be: Asci (the spore-bearing containers produced in the ascocarps of ascomycete fungi), or an acronym or abbreviation for Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative. ... A life cycle is a period involving one generation of an organism through means of reproduction, whether through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction. ... Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants, and is, by far, the most abundant biotic element of the biosphere. ... Mycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching threadlike hyphae that exists below the ground or within another substrate. ...

The sporocarp of a basidiomycete is known as a basidiocarp, while the fruiting body of an ascomycete is known as an ascocarp. A significant range of different shapes and morphologies is found in both basidiocarps and ascocarps; these features play an important role in the identification and taxonomy of fungi. Classes Subdivision Teliomycotina    Urediniomycetes Subdivision Ustilaginomycotina    Ustilaginomycetes Subdivision Hymenomycotina    Homobasidiomycetes - mushrooms The Division Basidiomycota is a large taxon within the Kingdom Fungi that includes those species that produce spores in a club_shaped structure called a basidium. ... Mushroom In fungi, the fruiting body (also known as sporocarp) is a multicellular structure on which spore-producing structures, such as basidia or asci, are borne. ... Classes Archaeascomycetes Hemiascomycetes Euascomycetes Neolectomycetes Pezizomycotina Pneumocystidomycetes Saccharomycotina Schizosaccharomycetes Taphrinomycetes mitosporic Ascomycota Members of the Division Ascomycota are known as the Sac Fungi and are fungi that produce spores in a distinctive type of microscopic sporangium called an ascus (Greek for a bag or wineskin). This monophyletic grouping was formerly... An ascocarp is the fruiting body of some ascomycete fungi, containing millions of asci, each of which contains typically eight ascospores. ...

Ascocarp of Sarcoscypha austriaca.

Fruiting bodies are termed epigeous if they grow on the ground, as with ordinary mushrooms, while ones which grow underground are hypogeous. Epigeous sporocarps that are visible to the naked eye, especially fruiting bodies of a more or less agaricoid morphology, are often referred to as mushrooms, while hypogeous fungi are usually called truffles or false truffles. Truffles evolutionarily disposed with ability to disperse their spores via air currents, instead opting for animal consumption and subsequent dispersal of their spores. An agaric is a type of fungal fruiting body characterized by the presence of a pileus that is clearly differentiated from the stipe, with lamellae (gills) on the underside of the pileus. ... Basidiocarps (mushrooms) of the fungus Leucocoprinus sp. ... Truffle describes a group of edible mycorrhizal (subterranean) mushrooms (genus Tuber, class Ascomycetes, division Mycota). ...

In amateur mushroom hunting, and to a large degree in academic mycology as well, identification of higher fungi is based on the features of the sporocarp. Mushroom hunting (or mushrooming) is the activity of searching for mushrooms in the wild, typically for consumption. ... Mycology (from the Greek mykes, meaning fungus) is the study of fungi, their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy, and their use to humans as a source for medicinals (see penicillin) and food (beer, wine, cheese, edible mushrooms), as well as their dangers, such as poisoning or infection. ...