MYCELIUM. 31 



Spore sac fungi (Ascomycetes), and (3) Mem- 

 brane fungi (Hymenomycetes). 



MYCELIUM. 



The Mycelium is commonly called the spawn 

 of mushrooms. 



It is the vegetative part of the fungus, and 

 is composed of minute, cylindrical, thread-like 

 branching bodies called hyphse. When we 

 wish to cultivate mushrooms we plant the spawn 

 not the spores. The thread-like branches per- 

 meate the earth or whatever the mushroom 

 grows upon. The color of the mycelium is 

 generally white, but it may also be yellow or 

 red. Its structural details are only visible 

 through a microscope. 



Every fungus does not bear the spores ex- 

 posed upon the cap nor underneath it. The 

 first group of Gasteromycetes, or " Stomach 

 fungi," as Professor Peck has called them in 

 his work on "Mushrooms and Their Uses," 

 have the spore-bearing surface enclosed in a 

 sac-like envelope in the interior of the plant. 

 The genus Lycoperdon belongs to this group, 

 and it contains the puff-balls so common in this 

 country. 



