Light micrograph of the common bread mould Mucor mucedo, showing its thread-like hyphae and round fruiting bodies or sporangia. Fungal spores circulate freely in the air. When they alight on a favourable medium, the spores germinate to produce a network of hyphae, which function to absorb food for growth and spore production. A sporangium grows at the end of a specialised hypha called a sporangiophore. When the spores are mature, the sporangium's wall cracks and disintegrates, releasing the spores for new dispersal. Magnification unknown.