Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. The vegetative part of a fungus, consisting of a mass of branching, threadlike hyphae.
- n. A similar mass of fibers formed by certain bacteria.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The vegetative part of the thallus of fungi, composed of one or more hyphæ. The vegetative system of fungi consists of filiform branched or unbranched cells called
hyphæ , and the hyphæ collectively form the mycelium. Alsomycele . See cuts under Fungi, mold, mildew, ergot, and haustorium.
Wiktionary
- n. The vegetative part of any fungus, consisting of a mass of branching, threadlike hyphae, often underground.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. The white threads or filamentous growth from which a mushroom or fungus is developed; the so-called mushroom spawn.
WordNet 3.0
- n. the vegetative part of a fungus consisting of a mass of branching threadlike hyphae
Etymologies
- New Latin : myc(o)- + Greek hēlos, wart.
Examples
“We have now discovered that there is a multi-directional transfer of nutrients between plants, mitigated by the mcyelium -- so the mycelium is the mother that is giving nutrients from alder and birch trees to hemlocks, cedars and Douglas firs.”
“The mycelium is the fibrous underground network of the mushroom.”
“The mycelium is the most important part of the fungous growth.”
“Wherever this vegetative stage, technically known as mycelium, penetrates, the bark is killed; and of course, you all know what that means.”
“These are common parasitical plants, originating in the production of copious filamentous threads, called the mycelium, or spawn.”
“The mold that grows off the surface of these cheeses gives off real small microscopic rootlets called mycelium that actually grow into the cheese and give off enzymes that the mold can feed off of," Lehner says.”
“Fungous diseases attacking a cavity produce a mass of fibers, known as the "mycelium," that penetrate the body of the tree or limb on which the cavity is located.”
“= -- A good example of mycelium which is familiar to nearly every one occurs in the form of a white mold on bread or on vegetables.”
Studies of American Fungi. Mushrooms, Edible, Poisonous, etc.
“Reality Sandwich explained: He compares the mushroom mycelium with the overlapping information-sharing systems that comprise the Internet, with the networked neurons in the brain, and with a computer model of dark matter in the universe.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘mycelium’.
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Mycology
basidiomycete, initiation, fungus, shiitake, inoculum, substrate, fruit body, mycelium, hyphal growth, oyster, spawn run, polypore and 206 more...
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Logolepsy
"Luciferous Logolepsy is a collection of over 9,000 obscure English words. Though the definition of an 'English' word might seem to be straightforward, it is not. There exist so many adopted, deriv...
Anschauung, Areopagus, Argus, Briarean, Dei gratia, Dei judicium, Deo volente, Duecento, Foehn, Geflugelte Worte, Gegenschein, Hakenkreuz and 9230 more...
yarb The white, thread-like mycelia are cultivated in vaulted chambers as large as a man's head, located deep within the formicary. They form great loose masses, hung from the ceiling, and binding together cut leaves, plucked and placed there for them by the ants. Normally these thread-like hyphae are uniform in diameter. Under the cultivation of the ants, however, they are induced to develop knobs at their tips, which have been called "kohl-rabi heads," because of the resemblance to that garden vegetable. It is upon the liquid secretion of these bulbs that all the adults of the colony live, and it constitutes their sole food.
- Caryl P. Haskins, Of Ants and Men, 1939, p. 39 Dec 4, 2008