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Cluster-basidium fungi
1 species
Botryobasidium is the type genus of the family Botryobasidiaceae and represents a widely distributed group of corticioid fungi. Historically described by Donk in 1931, the genus is characterized by its resupinate (crust-like) basidiocarps that form thin, arachnoid (cobweb-like) to hypochnoid layers on the underside of rotting wood and leaf litter. The genus has undergone significant taxonomic revision; recent molecular studies (e.g., Stalpers et al. 2021) have synonymized several anamorphic genera (such as Haplotrichum and Oidium) and closely related teleomorphs (like Botryohypochnus) into Botryobasidium, making it a monophyletic lineage within the Cantharellales.
The defining microscopic characteristic is the 'botryose' (cluster-like) arrangement of basidia. Basidia are typically short, subcylindrical to suburniform, and often bear 6–8 sterigmata (unlike the typical 4 in most basidiomycetes). The hyphal system is monomitic with broad, distinctively right-angled branching generative hyphae that may be simple-septate or clamped. Basidiospores are generally smooth (or ornamented in species formerly assigned to Botryohypochnus), thin-walled, and can vary from navicular to globose. Anamorphs often produce conspicuous chlamydospores or conidia in chains.
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