<P> Mycelium is the vegetative part of a fungus or fungus - like bacterial colony, consisting of a mass of branching, thread - like hyphae . The mass of hyphae is sometimes called shiro, especially within the fairy ring fungi . Fungal colonies composed of mycelium are found in and on soil and many other substrates . A typical single spore germinates into a homokaryotic mycelium, which cannot reproduce sexually; when two compatible homokaryotic mycelia join and form a dikaryotic mycelium, that mycelium may form fruiting bodies such as mushrooms . A mycelium may be minute, forming a colony that is too small to see, or it may be extensive: </P> <P> Is this the largest organism in the world? This 2,400 - acre (970 - hectare) site in eastern Oregon had a contiguous growth of mycelium before logging roads cut through it . Estimated at 1,665 football fields in size and 2,200 years old, this one fungus has killed the forest above it several times over, and in so doing has built deeper soil layers that allow the growth of ever - larger stands of trees . Mushroom - forming forest fungi are unique in that their mycelial mats can achieve such massive proportions . </P>

The body of the fungi that consists of a network of microscopic filaments is called the