noun
definition
The vegetative part of any fungus, consisting of a mass of branching, threadlike hyphae, often underground.
Examples of mycelia in a Sentence
The simpler mycelia consist of hyphae all alike and thin-walled, or merely differing in the diameter of the branches of various orders, or in their relations to the environment, some plunging into the substratum like roots, others remaining on its surface, and others (aerial hyphae) rising into the air.
Striking instances of coloured mycelia are afforded by Corticiunt sanguineum, blood - red; Elaphomyces Leveillei, yellow - green; Chlorosplenium aeruginosum, verdigris green; and the Dematei, brown or black.
In the first group zygospores can arise by the union of branches from the same mycelium and so can be produced by the growth from a single spore; this group includes Spordinia grandis, Spinellus fusiger, some species of Mucor, &c. The majority of forms, however, fall into the heterothallic group, in which the association of branches from two mycelia different in I nature is necessary for the 2, formation of zygospores.
No sharp lines can be drawn, however, since many mycelia are intercellular at first and subsequently become intracellular (Ustilagineae), and the various stages doubtless depend on the degrees of resistance which the host tissues are able to offer.
They grow as budding yeasts in anaerobic conditions but as mycelia in the presence of even low concentrations of oxygen.