252 



ASEXUAL REPRODUCTION 



from the sporangium. These are known as spores. Each little spore is 

 capable of producing a new mold plant. 



D. Draw a complete and a broken sporangium. 



I. Label sporangium, spore, and reproductive hypha. 



spores- 



An aerial hypha develops a sporangium or fruiting body. 

 This structure produces and disperses the spores. 



A sporangium some- 

 times forms at one end 

 of the hypha. The pro- 

 toplasm within this end 

 breaks into a great many 

 tiny structures, spores. 

 When ripe, this fruiting 

 body or spore case, the 

 sporangium, breaks open 

 and the spores scatter. 

 The spores can outlast 



unfavorable conditions. During unfavorable conditions, the mold 

 is in a dormant or resting stage in the spore. If it settles on food 

 and there are proper conditions of moisture and warmth, then the 

 spores will develop into new mold plants. The name for some molds 

 is mildew. Certain of the molds, as the powdery mildew that grows 

 on the lilac, live and secure their nourishment from living organisms. 

 An organism that gets nourishment from a living plant or animal, 

 and gives nothing in return", is a parasite. 



Problem. Study of sporangia in various 

 types of molds. 



I. Let a peeled banana stand in a covered dish 

 for forty-eight hours. When it shows a mold 

 growth, examine it with the microscope for fruiting 

 bodies or sporangia. 



II. Bring to class samples of various kinds of 



molds or mildews. Examine them under the micro- This photomicrograph shows 



not only a large sporangium, 

 scope for the fruiting bodies or sporangia. but certain of the spores are 



A. Draw as many different types of spo- , 



rangia as you have observed. 



at the to P of the 



