Deuteromycete

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A fungus belonging to the former group of organisms known as imperfect fungi, which reproduce only asexually and show no sexual stage
2. An asexually reproducing fungus once classified in the artificial group Deuteromycetes because its sexual reproductive phase had never been observed
3. A member of the older taxonomic category of fungi that lack a recognized sexual cycle and were grouped together as imperfect fungi

Etymology: Deuteromycetes are fungi whose sexual reproductive stage has never been observed, so they were known only from their asexual spores. The name is a Modern Latin coinage built from Greek: "deuteros," meaning "second," and "mykes," meaning "fungus" or "mushroom." The "second" is likely a reference to these fungi being known only through a secondary, asexual phase, though the exact reasoning behind the choice is uncertain. The name carries a built-in contradiction. Many of these fungi were grouped together simply because no one had found their sexual stage, which means the category was defined by what scientists did not know. When a sexual stage was later discovered for a given species, that species was usually moved into the group of fungi that does have one, typically Ascomycota or Basidiomycota. Because of this, the group has no place in formal modern classification and survives mainly as a convenient informal label.

Synonyms: imperfect fungus