C8 



MANUAL OF BOTANY 



interlacing filaments, or liyphce, v/iih. no separating transverse 

 wallsj but with many nuclei embedded in the protoplasm which 

 lines them. This network of liyphaB, which is characteristic of 

 most fungi, is known as the inyceliu)}i. Often the mycelium is 

 septated into segments, each of which is a small ccenocyte. In 

 one group, the Myxomycetes, the plant body is a plasniodiu7n 

 {Jig. 818), consisting of an aggregation of cells which possess no 

 cell-walls, but are capable of amoeboid movements. The Plasmo- 

 dium is of course a form of ccenocyte. 



Fig. 818. 



Fig. 818. A. Plasmodium of a Myxomycete ( x 300). B. A fructification still 

 closed, c. After rupture of the wall p, and extension of the capillitium. 

 After De Bary x 20. 



The degree of differentiation which is shown by the plant 

 body varies a good deal. Some are always single cells, others 

 by division of these form strings or chains of cells ; others form 

 the myceha already noticed, and. in many cases the hyphae of 

 these, combining in various ways as they grow, produce large 

 masses of tissue. . ; ..- 



In nearly all cas,es»bu.t the :first two, the body can be seen 

 to be composed of parts which may be called root and shoot. In 



