Exploring the Amazing World of Fungi

Fungi come in three familiar forms — mushrooms, molds and yeasts — and nature could not manage without any of them.

What are fungi?

Fungi (say it: FUN-guy) are their own kingdom of living things, alongside plants and animals. They are not plants. A plant makes its own food out of sunlight; a fungus cannot. Instead it takes its food from other things, living or dead.

Some fungi are microscopic, like the yeast that makes bread rise. Others are the mushrooms you find in a wood.

The different kinds

• Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies of some fungi — think of them as the apples of the tree, not the tree itself. They are how the fungus spreads its spores, which work a little like tiny seeds.
• Molds often look fuzzy and grow on food or damp surfaces. Some are useful, like the ones that make certain cheeses; others just spoil your lunch.
• Yeasts are tiny single-celled fungi. They are what make bread rise.

Why fungi matter

• Decomposers: they break down dead plants and animals and return the nutrients to the soil. Without them, dead material would simply pile up.
• Food: many mushrooms are good to eat.
• Medicine: some fungi are used to make medicines, including antibiotics.

Go on a mushroom hunt

Go looking with a grown-up, somewhere safe like a park or your own garden. Look for different shapes, sizes and colors. Draw what you find, and try to identify it afterwards with a field guide.

Fungi are neither plant nor animal, and they are quietly holding the whole system together. Next time you spot a mushroom in the grass, remember it is only the fruiting body — the rest of the fungus, maybe covering acres of ground, is still hidden out of sight.