Ascomyce´tes

(-tēz), one of the main subdivisions of the Eumycetes or Higher Fungi, distinguished by their principal spores being produced in organs called asci . Typically, an ascus is a cylindrical or club-shaped structure containing at maturity eight ascospores , which are usually liberated explosively and thereafter dispersed by the wind. As a rule numerous asci are ma ed together in a layer or ascus-hymenium , which is variously disposed on a more or le ma ive fruit-body, according to the form and structure of which the group is further subdivided into a number of sections and families, the chief being Erysiphales, Plectascineæ, Pyre no mycetes, Discomycetes (q.v.).