Plural of autobasidium; in fungi, a type of basidium (spore-bearing structure) that produces spores directly without further division.
From Greek 'autos' (self) plus 'basidium' (a fungal structure, from Latin 'basis' meaning 'base'). The 'auto-' prefix indicates the spores form directly in one stage.
Fungi have incredible diversity in how they make spores—some use simple direct methods (autobasidia), others complex multi-stage systems. This complexity hidden in mushrooms rivals the complexity of animal development.
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