MYCELIUM

[my.ce.li.um] n, pl -lia [NL, fr. myc- + Gk helos nail, wart, callus] (1836): the mass of interwoven filamentous hyphae that forms esp. the vegetative portion of the thallus of a fungus and is often submerged in another body (as of soil or organic matter or the tissues of a host); also: a similar mass of filaments formed by some bacteria (as streptomyces) -- my.ce.li.al adj