Ascomycetes Versus Ascomycota
Before the recognition of the fungal kingdom, the sac fungi were considered to be a class, not a phylum. The original collective term for these taxa was "Ascomycetes", which was first coined in the 1800s for a rankless nonlichenized taxon that possessed asci. The names Ascomycota, Ascomycetes, and others with the same root are based upon the term "ascus". "Ascomycetes" was soon used to include lichenized taxa, and became the standard term, at the class level, for all ascus-bearing species, just as the term "Basidiomycetes" became used for their basidium-bearing counterparts. Elevation of the taxonomic rank of the Ascomycetes resulted in the names Ascomycetae, Ascomycotina, and finally Ascomycota. Together, the Ascomycota and the Basidiomycota form the subkingdom Dikarya. The more familiar term, Ascomycetes, is still loosely used, e.g. at fungal forays it is often said of a fungus, such as Peziza, "It is an ascomycete, not a basidiomycete" in reference to their sexual reproductive mode. The terms are further abbreviated to "ascos" and "basidos", which are not officially sanctioned technical names.
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