phycomycete Bot.
(ˈfaɪkəʊmaɪsiːt)
[sing. of mod.L. Phycomycetes (A. de Bary Morphol. & Physiol. der Pilze (1866) p. vi), f. phyco- + mycetes.]
A fungus belonging to one of the primitive groups formerly included in the class Phycomycetes, nearly always characterized by a vegetative thallus without septa and either asexual reproduction by means of sporangiospores or conidia or sexual reproduction by means of oospores or zygospores. Also attrib. Cf. phycomycetous adj. s.v. phyco-.
| [1887 H. E. F. Garnsey tr. A. de Bary's Compar. Morphol. & Biol. Fungi iv. 132 Groups 1–4 [of the Ascomycete series] have been brought together under the name of Phycomycetes on account of their close approximation to the Algae.] 1932 Bot. Gaz. XCIII. 427 The attachment to the flagellum or flagella of the phycomycete zoospore is usually posterior or lateral. 1933 Trans. Brit. Mycol. Soc. XVIII. 199 (heading) Azygozygum chlamydosporum Nov. gen. et sp. A phycomycete associated with a diseased condition of Antirrhinum majus. Ibid. 201 The Phycomycete was isolated from several varieties of Antirrhinum. 1936 Forestry X. 14 All three species showed mycorrhizal infection of the well-known ‘phycomycete type’. 1976 G. C. Ainsworth Introd. Hist. Mycol. ix. 236 The most important [aquatic fungi] taxonomically were the phycomycetes. |