A few mushrooms and toadstools are extremely poisonous, but most are harmless or simply do not taste good. All types of cultivated mushrooms are perfectly safe to eat. However, expert knowledge is needed to identify wild mushrooms accurately, so it can be very dangerous to experiment with them.
A fairy ring is a circular pattern that is produced by fungi growing in grassland. As the fungus grows out from a central point it forms a circle, and at the edges of this circle the grass changes colour. Meanwhile the original fungus dies off, so all that is left is the expanding ring of fungus growing beneath the surface. Sometimes a ring of mushrooms also appears. These fairy rings keep growing for many years, perhaps even for centuries. They can reach a very large size unless they are disturbed, for example when the land is ploughed.
Picture credit: google
Fungi used to be considered as part of the plant kingdom, but they are now thought to be quite different. The main part of the fungus is a mass of tiny threads called a mycelium. Fungi live on other organic matter. In the soil, fungi are the most important agent in the breakdown of dead plant and animal material, recycling it so that plants can use the nutrients. Fungi live in damp areas or in water because they have no method of preventing their fragile threads from drying out – they cannot survive dry atmospheres. Some fungi are parasites, attacking animals or plants.
Mushrooms are the reproductive organs of some types of fungi, in which the threads of the mycelium compact together to produce the familiar umbrella-shaped mushroom. Microscopic spores, which are produced on the underside of the mushroom cap, spread in the wind to start new fungal colonies.
Picture credit: google
Lichens are peculiar organisms in which algae and fungi live together. They are usually flat and crust-like, with no roots and often grow on roofs, rocks or tree branches, and are frequently brightly coloured. The main structure of a lichen is the fungal part, but it also contains algae cells which contribute food through photosynthesis. Reindeer moss is a form of lichen that is very common throughout the Arctic. It forms the main diet of the caribou and other grazing animals. Lichens grow very slowly, but can eventually cover very large areas. Some individual ones are extremely old, and some lichens growing in rocks in Antarctica are thought to be 10,000 years old — they are the oldest living organisms.
Picture credit: google
Ferns differ from flowering plants mainly in the way that they reproduce. They have fronds instead of true leaves, and some ferns grow into a tree-like form that can be 24 m tall. Microscopic spores are produced on the underside of the fronds, and these are scattered by the wind. When the spores land in a suitably damp area, they sprout and grow into a tiny flat plant that develops small reproductive structures. Sperms fertilize the egg cell, which begins to grow as the tiny plant shrivels and dies, and the complete fern begins to develop. Ferns’ delicate reproductive parts can only survive in a moist atmosphere, so these plants only grow in damp places.
Picture credit: google
Giant kelp looks like a kind of seaweed, but it is in fact is the largest-known kind of algae. It grows in very long strands up to 65 m in length, and is fastened to the sea-bed with a root-like organ called a holdfast. Small air bladders help to keep the kelp floating upright and spreading across the water’s surface. Kelp is harvested and used for various industrial purposes. One substance extracted from it, is called algin, and is commonly used to make ice cream.
Pictures credit: google
[custom_search_and_filter]