Fungus and Hyphae Diagram – Mycelium and Kinds of Hypha

All 11 parts on the diagram

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The fungus 5

Fruiting body The part above ground. It makes and sheds the spores.
Mycelium The whole web of threads. It is the body of the fungus.
Hyphae The single threads of a fungus. Together they make the mycelium.
Spores Tiny grains that can each grow into a new fungus.
Basidia Club-shaped cells on the gills. The spores form on their tips.

Kinds of hypha 6

Septate hypha A hypha divided into cells by cross walls.
Septum A cross wall between two cells of a hypha.
Coenocytic hypha One long tube with no cross walls. Many nuclei share it.
Nuclei Small round bodies inside the hypha. Here many share one tube.
Haustorium A branch that enters a host cell and absorbs food.
Plant cell (host) A cell of the plant that the fungus feeds on.

How this list was compiled: Every name checked on 2026-10-03 and kept only where two of these use it. (1) G. F. Atkinson, Botany for High Schools, 1912 (public domain), https://archive.org/details/botanyhighschools00atkirich : a single thread is a hypha and the mat of threads the mycelium; in the higher fungi the mycelium is septate, with numerous cross walls in the threads; a short specialized club-shaped cell, the basidium, bears a definite number of spores on the outside, usually four; a section of the gills shows the club-shaped basidia bearing the spores; branches called haustoria are sent into the cells of the host; the fruit-bodies, or spore-bearing parts, of the fungi. (2) C. S. Gager, Fundamentals of Botany, 1916 (public domain), https://archive.org/details/fundamentalsofbo00gagerich : threads termed hyphae, aseptate when not divided by cross-walls or septa, with many nuclei in the cytoplasm, a coenocyte; a septate mycelium sending haustoria into the epidermal cells; the surface of the gills covered with club-shaped basidia that bear the spores. (3) J. N. Martin, Botany for Agricultural Students, 1919 (public domain), https://archive.org/details/botanyforagricul00mart : special absorbing branches that penetrate the host are called haustoria; spores on small club-shaped hyphae called basidia; hyphae that are coenocytes. (4) Wikipedia, Hypha, Mycelium, Basidium, Haustorium and Sporocarp (fungus), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypha : hyphae divided into cells by cross-walls called septa; septate, and aseptate or coenocytic, hyphae; the mycelium is a mass of branching hyphae; a basidium usually bears four spores; a haustorium penetrates the host plant's cell wall; the sporocarp, also known as the fruiting body. (5) University of California Museum of Paleontology, Fungi: More on Morphology, https://ucmp.berkeley.edu/fungi/fungimm.html : filaments called hyphae; the body of the organism is the mycelium; a sporocarp, or mushroom, produced for the release of spores; fungal cells often have multiple nuclei; coenocytic and septate filaments; cross-walls called septa. (6) Australian National Botanic Gardens, What is a fungus? and The mycelium, https://www.anbg.gov.au/fungi/what-is-fungus.html : a thread is a hypha and the network of hyphae a mycelium; the mushroom produces and disperses spores, which form on the gills; fruiting bodies or sporocarps; cross-walls, or septa. (7) University of Hawaii, Botany 201, introduction to the fungi, http://www.botany.hawaii.edu/faculty/wong/Bot201/Myxomycota/Introduction.htm : septate mycelium divided by septa; coenocytic mycelium not divided by septa. Licence: own work

The drawing: Drawn for this site on 2026-10-03 from plain geometry; own work, nothing traced. Licence: own work

How it works

This fungus and hyphae diagram starts with a mushroom and the web of threads under it. The second drawing cuts three hyphae open: one with cross walls, one without, and one that feeds inside a plant cell.

Read the full guide

Above and below the ground

The mushroom is only the fruiting body. Most of the fungus is the mycelium, a web of threads in the soil. Each thread is a hypha. Club-shaped cells called basidia cover the gills under the cap, and spores form on their tips, usually four to a club.

Septate or coenocytic

Cross walls called septa cut a septate hypha into cells. A coenocytic hypha has none, so many nuclei share one tube. A haustorium is a branch that enters a cell of a host plant.

Hypha and septum name one thread and one cross wall. Hyphae and septa are the plurals.

Questions and answers

What is the difference between hyphae and mycelium?

Hyphae are the single threads. The mycelium is all of them together: the branching web that spreads through soil or wood and makes up the body of the fungus.

What is the difference between septate and coenocytic hyphae?

Septate hyphae are split into cells by cross walls called septa. Coenocytic hyphae have no cross walls, so each thread is one long tube with many nuclei.

What is the fruiting body of a fungus?

The part that produces and releases the spores. A mushroom is one kind of fruiting body. It is built of hyphae too, and it grows from the mycelium.

What does a haustorium do?

It is a short branch of a hypha that pushes into a cell of the host and absorbs food from it. Fungi that live as parasites on plants form haustoria.

How do I drag the labels to their appropriate locations on the diagram of the fungus and hyphae below?

Here you tap, not drag. The mushroom is the reproductive structure, the clubs under its cap are the spore-producing structures, the web in the soil is the mycelium and its single threads are hyphae. Then sort the hyphae by their cross walls.