Basidiocarp
basidiomata) is the sporocarp of a basidiomycete, the multicellular structure on which the spore-producing hymenium is borne.Basidiocarps are characteristic of the hymenomycetes; rusts and smuts do not produce such structures.As with other sporocarps, epigeous (above-ground) basidiocarps that are visible to the naked eye (especially those with a more or less agaricoid morphology) are commonly referred to as mushrooms, while hypogeous (underground) basidiocarps are usually called false truffles.In more complex basidiocarps, there is differentiation into a stipe, a pileus, and/or various types of hymenophores.Molecular phylogenetic investigation (as well as supporting evidence from micromorphology and chemotaxonomy) has since demonstrated that similar types of basidiomycete growth form are often examples of convergent evolution and do not always reflect a close relationship between different groups of fungi.