General Characteristics Phylum Basidiomycota includes mushrooms, toadstools, puffballs, jelly fungi, rusts, smuts, and shelf fungi Called "club fungi" after the shape of the Basidium the reproductive structure looks like the club suit in playing cards Many hallucinogenic, deadly, others safe and edible Complex life cyclesTypes of Fungi Scientists often divide fungi into four groups club fungi, molds, sac fungi, and imperfect fungi Some of the more common fungi that you are likely to see or use everyday are described below Mushrooms Mushrooms are part of the club fungi group Mushrooms are the fruiting body of a fungusThe algaelike conjugating fungi have a continuous mycelium containing hundreds or thousands of nuclei, with no divisions between them Species of conjugating fungi cause potato blight, downy mildew, black bread mold, and water mold (which affects dead leaves and sticks in water)
Fungi
