THE FUNGUS BODY OF HYPHAL ELEMENTS. 4! 



fungi, profuse branching is the rule; in others, the branches 

 are few. 



50. Mycelium. --When branching is profuse, or when a 

 considerable number of individuals grow near together, the 

 filaments often become interwoven and entangled in so com- 



FIG. 49. A single plant of Mucor Mucedo, showing the mycelium as it developed 

 from a single spore in an infusion of dung. It bears a single erect reproductive 

 branch rising above the fluid. Magnified 25 diam. After Brefeld. 



plex a web that it is impossible to follow a single hypha for 

 any distance. Such a mat of hyphae is called a mycelium, 

 a term which is also used to designate the vegetative hyphae 

 collectively, whether forming a felted mass or not (figs. 49, 

 50). The mycelium may be formed wholly upon the sur- 



