140 



A TEXT-BOOK OF BOTANY 



B 



FIG. 127. Developing sporangia of Mucor: 

 A, swollen tip of sporophore; B, wall 

 separating sporangium from the rest of 

 the body. 



by keeping a piece of moist 

 bread in a warm room un- 

 der a glass vessel. The 

 sources of its food supply 

 indicate that it is a sapro- 

 phyte. 



The body of Mucor is 

 a good illustration of the 

 bodies of ordinary Fungi. 

 The principal part of the 

 body consists of colorless 

 branching threads, either 

 isolated or more often in- 

 terwoven, and is called the 

 mycelium (Fig. 125). The 

 interweaving may be very 

 loose, the mycelium look- 

 ing like a delicate cobweb; 

 or it may be close and 



FIG. 128. Mature sporangium of Mucor, 

 showing wall (a), numerous spores 

 (c), and partition wall pushed up into 

 the cavity of the sporangium (6). 



FIG. 129. Burst sporangium of Mucor, 

 the ruptured wall not being shown, 

 the loose spores adhering to the con- 

 vex partition wall (see Fig. 128). 



