10 most interesting facts about mushrooms

Long before trees took over the Earth, our planet was covered in giant mushrooms 7,3 meters high and 0,9 meters wide: these giant spiers dotted the ancient landscape. Now such hulks are no longer found in nature, but there are still a lot of secrets associated with them.

For example, no one knows exactly how many types of mushrooms grow in nature. There are about 10 described species, but everyone agrees that there are undiscovered species. We decided to delve into this “mushroom” topic and found the 000 most interesting facts about mushrooms for students in grade 10.

10 Fly agaric and pale grebe – the most poisonous mushrooms

Amanita phalloidesbetter known as death cap is a fungus that causes life-threatening hepatorenal dysfunction when ingested. Considered the world’s most poisonous mushroom, it contains amatoxins, a group of bicyclic octapeptides that are responsible for 90% of global mushroom-related deaths.

One toadstool cap is enough to cause death in an adult. The pale grebe was first bred in British Columbia from the roots of imported European trees and has since spread to North American oaks and is increasingly found in cities.

amanita is a mushroom variety that can be found almost everywhere in the northern hemisphere and which ranks second in terms of the level of danger to life. Mushrooms have a distinctive appearance – bright red or yellow hats, dotted with white spots (by the way, these spots are washed away during rain), where the mycelium itself forms a symbiosis with trees.

Amanita muscaria (scientific name fly agaric) can be found near birch, pine or spruce trees in North/South America, throughout Europe, northern Asia and western Alaska, but it has also been found in symbiosis with eucalyptus in Australia and in pure lime forests in Norway.

9. Mushrooms have been used as medicines

At a time when pills were not yet invented, people were treated as best they could, including mushrooms. In folk medicine, they are still used, as well as in pharmacotherapy, and they can really help, since many varieties contain useful elements.

In general, mushrooms played an important role in the development of medicine: streptomycin and penicillin, which marked the beginning of the era of antibiotics, were discovered with the help of mold fungi, from which these substances were isolated.

8. Veselka ordinary – the fastest growing mushroom

Soon after temperatures start to drop, and especially after wet weather, you might find a little surprise in your yard: phallic-looking mushrooms that appear seemingly out of nowhere. They are called Phallus Impudicus or common veselka.

The 16th century botanist John Gerard called them “prickly mushrooms” or “fungus Virilis penis“. The reason is obvious: they look like you know what. Some cultures consider mushrooms to be aphrodisiacs and even feed them to bulls before they mate.

In fact, Phallus Impudicus is nothing more than a type of stink fungus that appears in cool and humid weather, mainly in autumn and winter. They start with a white “egg” that is partly visible above the ground, with a network of roots anchoring it below. Once the fungus matures, the adult stem appears quickly – sometimes within an hour.

7. Mushrooms produce vitamin D

With a lack of vitamin D, which we get by basking in the sun, a person’s absorption of calcium worsens, due to which the bones become brittle. And this is far from the only problem that arises because of this.

Mushrooms are a great way to cover a vitamin D deficiency, since one serving contains approximately 20% of the daily value, and if you hold them on ultraviolet radiation for one or two seconds, then everything is 100%.

6. White truffle – the most expensive mushroom

Rare European white truffle can cost over 4 euros per 500 kg. Found in the Italian regions of Piedmont, Marche and Tuscany, growing among the roots of poplar, beech, hazelnut, oak and willow, white truffles are highly aromatic, with a strong flavor described as earthy, musky or garlicky.

5. Mushrooms – a source of protein and not only

Mushrooms are excellent sources of protein, fiber, B vitamins (especially niacin), vitamin C and D, calcium, minerals, and selenium.. They also contain substances unique to mushrooms, such as ergothioneine, which research has shown to be a very powerful antioxidant.

Mushrooms can get rid of high blood cholesterol levels and prevent the occurrence of breast cancer, prostate cancer and diabetes. They also help in weight loss and increase the strength of your immune system.

4. Honey fungus is the largest living organism on the planet

In 1998, a US Forest Service team began investigating the causes of large tree extinction in the Malheur National Forest in eastern Oregon. They found affected areas on aerial photographs and collected root samples from 112 dead and dying trees, mostly spruces. Tests showed that all but four of the trees were infested. honey mushroom Armillaria solidipes (formerly known as Armillaria ostoyae).

The most widely spaced were 3,8 km apart. The team calculated that the fungus covered an area of ​​9,6 km² and was between 1900 and 8650 years old.

3. Mushrooms are amazingly viable and are not afraid of radiation

At the site of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, after the tragedy, various types of mushrooms were found, which, I must say, feel great in conditions of high radiation.

2. 144 types of mushrooms can cause hallucinations

People learned to “get high” from mushrooms a long time agoby accidentally discovering their “magical” properties. It used to be believed that visions under the influence of mushrooms are a window into the world of spirits.

So that you understand what hallucinogenic mushrooms are capable of, let’s mention the Greek legend, which says that Perseus founded the city of Mycenae thanks to mushrooms. At a picnic with Andromeda and some of the nobles, he picked and ate a mushroom because he was thirsty. It was a poisonous mushroom, one of those very difficult to distinguish from a non-toxic variety. He then began to hallucinate, seeing visions of the city around him. The nobles, who sought to earn the favor of the king, took all this seriously and founded the city at the place where the picnic was held.

It happened already in the second millennium BC. Interestingly, much later, the city became a thriving center for the illegal drug trade.

1. Mushrooms are in a separate kingdom

A mushroom is neither a fruit nor a vegetable: mushrooms are technically not even plants.. Fungi are living organisms that are distantly related to plants and more closely related to animals, but quite different from either of these groups.

They look like the fruit of a plant, except that the “seeds” it produces are actually millions of microscopic spores that form in the gills or pores under the mushroom’s cap.

Many species are an important part of nature, decomposing inanimate organic matter. This means that they “eat” dead plants. However, many mushroom varieties have special, symbiotic relationships with certain plant species. Often, neither the fungus nor the plant will grow without a partner.