sb. pl. Bot. [mod.L., f. Gr. κονία, κόνι-ς, dust + μύκης (pl. μύκητες) mushroom; introd. by Nees von Esenbeck, 1817.] A group of fungi, so named from their dusty spores. The division is no longer retained, its members being distributed among other groups. Hence Coniomycetous a.
1866. Treas. Bot., 321. The dark soot-like patches so common on old rails and dead wood are formed mostly by these dingy coniomycetes.
1872. W. Aitkin, Sc. & Pract. Med. (ed. 6), I. 210. Reproductive cells or fruits may be of at least three different forms in coniomycetous fungi.
1874. Cooke, Fungi, 70. Two families, in one of which the dusty spores are the prominent feature, and hence termed Coniomycetes. Ibid., 36. The Coniomycetous parasites on living plants.
