The production of basidia from individual teliospores of Sporisorium formosanum and Ustilago affinis is described. In S. formosanum the upper portion of the basidium separates as a conidium-like body the two cells of which either conjugate or produce sporidia, whilst the lower portion remains unicellular and gives rise to sporidia. In U. affinis the basidium is four-celled and remains intact, its cells either conjugating or producing sporidia, sometimes on the same basidium. These patterns of teliospore germination are compared with one another and other members of the Ustilaginaceae, notably Ustilago trichophora.