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Mushrooms are unusual representatives of the living world, separated into a separate kingdom of nature. They are used for food, medicine, industry and many other areas of life.

Mushrooms occupy a special place between plants and animals. Let's look at the most interesting facts about them.

  1. Rough estimates indicate the existence of two million species. Scientists have studied only one hundred thousand, and classified even fewer.
  2. Some of the most ancient inhabitants of the planet, along with ferns.
  3. In terms of feeding, they are more similar to animals. They do not have chlorophyll and are incapable of photosynthesis; they feed exclusively on ready-made organic matter.
  4. The above-ground part is only the fruit, and the real body is located underground and is called mycelium (or mycelium).
  5. There are male and female individuals, differing in DNA structure. After the onset of puberty, they are able to reproduce common offspring.
  6. The bodies are composed of the finest fibers-hyphae, forming mycelium.
  7. They are able to enter into symbiosis with trees.









Mushrooms are full of surprises: they boast intelligence and can save the world. Here are 10 interesting facts about mushrooms.

10. This is the largest Kingdom on the planet

We don't know how much different types(of any kind, fungi or not) exist on Earth, but recent estimates indicate there are 8.7 million to 6.5 million on land and 2.2 million in the sea.

Of these, a staggering 5.1 million species—more than half the total—are considered fungi, outnumbering plant species by more than 6 to 1. And according to one of the world's leading mycologists, Paul Stamets, this ratio may be closer to 10:1. Of course, about 30% of the mass of the soil under our feet, both living and dead, is fungal in nature, and represents "the world's largest carbon store." “In fact, for every meter of tree root,” says Stametz, “there is a kilometer of mycelium—an overgrown underground network of branched tubular filaments, or hyphae, that provide the basis for fungal growth on the surface.”

Even if, as some have suggested, the total number of species approaches 1 trillion (1,000,000,000,000), most of them are probably microbial fungi. And since many of them live on your body, there is no escape from them. Mushrooms are everywhere.

9. They are ancient, huge and incredibly durable

We know that mushrooms have appeared before people for millions, even billions of years, and not just in the recent past. We discovered 90-million-year-old specimens of Cordyceps fungi and fossilized Prototaxites mushrooms dating back 420 million years in amber. We also know that the mushroom kingdom has long boasted some of the largest organisms on Earth. That the prehistoric mushrooms Prototaxites, for example, at one time reached a height of 7 m, while even the tallest trees were several tens of centimeters lower.

Even today, the largest living mushroom is capable of consuming many cities and even an adult Blue Whale. Possessing a huge mycelium of 9.5 sq. km, the giant mushroom Armillaria ostoyae from the Blue Mountains of Oregon, aged from 2400 to 8650 years, covers 10 square meters. km - the equivalent of almost 2000 football fields.

Mushrooms are also surprisingly resilient. Some species can survive in sub-zero temperatures by producing their own heat (hence the need to freeze meat to -20°C or below), and also in relatively high temperatures up to 65°C.

There is evidence that fungal spores can survive in interstellar space for hundreds of years, or perhaps even tens of millions of years if they become trapped in dark molecular clouds. In theory, this allows them to drift from one solar system for an eternity, potentially scattering life across all galaxies.

8. Mushrooms work wonders in medicine

For thousands of years, mushrooms have been used medicinally. The ancient Chinese used Ophiocordyceps sinensis (a fungus that grows on insects) as a cure-all, Hippocrates used Fomes fomentarius as an anti-inflammatory, and Native Americans used yeast mushrooms to heal wounds. Recently, penicillin (derived from Penicillium fungi) has been used as an antibiotic.

And we can expect to see a lot more mushroom remedies in the future. One of the most promising and potentially innovative species is the larch sponge (Laricifomes officinalis), a fungus that grows on Douglas fir trees in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. This lumpy one, which looks a bit like a hornet's nest, is extremely resistant to a range of influenza viruses, including (in combination with other fungi) the potentially devastating bird flu, and at the same time it is completely harmless to us.

It could also be the key to developing effective smallpox vaccines, which is great news considering how few of us have been vaccinated and how little vaccine exists. Thus, the Department of Health and Human Services launched the BioShield project to study the agaricon fungus, and biologist Stamets called the preservation of the fungus' centuries-old habitats a matter of national security.

7. Raw mushrooms inedible (especially the ones you eat)

Whether we like them or not, we all tend to think about edible mushrooms like healthy food. And we're not entirely wrong, especially when it comes to medicinal mushrooms such as reishi (lingzhi), shiitake and lion's mane. However, there is important nuance: All mushrooms must be cooked.

Because of their rough cell walls, which are composed primarily of chitin (the same protective fibrous substance that makes up the exoskeletons of arthropods), uncooked mushrooms are not digestible by humans. To make matters worse, many species (or even certain specimens that are “edible” due to their porosity) contain harmful pathogens and toxins that can lead to cell damage and digestive irritation, among other complaints.

Thorough cooking will not only remove these toxins from the mushrooms, but will also allow the release of proteins, vitamins and minerals, which is why we actually use mushrooms.
Surprisingly, this warning is especially important with regard to the usual “salad mushrooms” - porcini/champignon/portobello/brown/camelina mushrooms - those that many of us like to eat raw.

There is a truly creepy part of Stametz's interview with Joe Rogan where he says that these mushrooms should be cooked at high temperatures, but refuses to explain why. When Rogan tries to press Stamets about what the negative consequences might be, he simply looks him in the eyes and seriously says: “This is an explosive area of ​​conversation, and it puts my life at risk, so I reserve the right not to respond to this question."

It's not entirely clear what he meant, but we do know that the "unfortunate group of compounds" in this type of mushroom (agaricus bisporus) are carcinogenic. And although these mushrooms break down easily when cooked, they need to be cooked quite carefully, since even boiling these mushrooms for 2 hours straight does not completely eliminate the compounds.

6. They can be used to create paper and clothing

Mushrooms have great benefits besides therapeutic effect and satisfy gourmets. For example, the same chitin that makes them largely indigestible to humans can also be used to make paper. Scientists realized this in the 1970s when they explored the potential of shrimp chitin as an alternative to wood.

Additionally, some of the mushrooms best suited for papermaking—kawaratake and reishi—can easily be grown en masse. In fact, you only need a few pieces of equipment to quickly grow them at home, and then you only need to puree the pulp in a blender to form into sheets to dry.

Mushrooms can also be used to produce fabric and dyes to dye it. Romanians have long extracted amadou material from the Fomes fomentarius mushroom to make traditional felt hats, for example. But it turns out that clothes can be grown like mushrooms, from scratch. First, in petri dishes, living mycelial “tissue samples” are placed around 3D models and then transformed into customized, one-of-a-kind clothing. You can even do it in the same way. And, of course, it will all be 100% biodegradable and, in many cases, water-repellent, antimicrobial, and truly beneficial to the skin.

5. They can be used to shine in the dark

Are the tinder fungi real? (Fomes fomentarius) began to be used much earlier and for much more purposes than the production of hats. It has the remarkable ability to catch and hold the cold, inert sparks generated by silicon impact - which can start and maintain fires in the wild. Perhaps this is why Itzi the Iceman, a frozen 5,000-year-old mummy, was found to have a piece of such a mushroom in his bag.

But there is another way where you can use a mushroom to shine in the dark, and this does not involve any flame. Bioluminescent fungal species produce a green glow or “Foxfire” when the light-producing luciferin molecules react with oxygen—the same thing that happens in fireflies, anglerfish, and other bioluminescent organisms. More than 80 species of fungi, including Neonothopanus gardneri (coconut flower), are known to glow in the dark and, interestingly, they only glow in the dark, attracting insects at night to disperse their spores.

Naturally, this is very interesting to us. First, because of the compatibility of mushroom luciferin with plant biochemistry, scientists believe it could one day be used to genetically engineer bioluminescent trees as a sustainable green alternative to street lights.

4. They're not even close to plants.

They can grow like plants, and in some cases even look like plants, but genetically, fungi have much more in common with animals. Just like us, they inhale oxygen and release CO2, they do not need sunlight to reproduce, and they feed on other organisms. In addition, chitin, which makes up their cell walls, is not found anywhere in the plant kingdom, but is found everywhere in animals, including crab shells and insect shells. As you've probably noticed, mushrooms even taste a little like meat when you eat them, which is why they're (somewhat erroneously) used in vegetarianism as a meat substitute.

About 650 billion years ago, animals and fungi emerged from a common super-kingdom known as Opisthokonta. And it is believed that our common ancestors - opisthokonts had both animal and fungal characteristics. In other words, as Stametz puts it, animals evolved from fungi; people are fungal bodies.

And while we have far less in common with the grebe than we do with chimpanzees, our shared genetic ancestry may explain why fungal diseases in humans can be difficult to identify and treat without harming the person.

3. They invented the Internet (a billion years before we did)

Whether they are evolutionary cousins ​​or not, it is quite tempting to think of fungi as something that came before animals and, of course, humans, in the so-called “march of progress.” They do not move, they do not speak, they have no distinct culture (except in the purely biological sense of the term), and they are not even aware of themselves. At first glance, they are more “stupid” than jellyfish.

But are any of these traits really necessary or even desirable as a measure of practical intelligence?

Even slime mold is smarter than some of humanity's brightest and best, according to a 2010 study. Installing oatmeal Modeled after cities around Tokyo, scientists observed how a pattern of yellow slime mold (Physarum polycephalum) established, strengthened, and refined nutritional connections between them. And by the end of the experiment, this mycelial network not only bore a striking resemblance to the existing Tokyo subway system, but was also more efficient. Unlike humans, the fungus constantly strengthened the busiest trunks—those that carried the most nutrients—and removed those that had become reserves.

This is exactly how mycelium works in nature, transmitting not only food, but also important information about environment, including the precise location of sources (such as fallen branches) and predators (such as their footsteps), over vast distances. It even forms mutually beneficial alliances, or “guilds,” with other organisms.

In this way, mycologists think of mycelium as nature's internet, with individual parts branching out to explore their environment, and the entire network benefits from these discoveries. Stametz calls it "nature's neurological network" and even believes that one day we will be able to communicate with it. With "a level of complexity that exceeds the computing power of our most advanced supercomputers," mycelium can tell us everything about the environment, as well as the organisms within it, and this could be vital to our survival on this planet - or any other. Given the stunning effectiveness of mushrooms, there may be similar networked organisms throughout the universe.

2. Eating Certain Mushrooms Instantly Makes Us Much Smarter

According to ethnobotanist Terence McKenna, human evolution from Homo erectus to the much more intelligent Homo sapiens was made possible by eating certain types of mushrooms, the revolutionary psychoactive effects of which we discovered when we came down from the trees. Although McKenna's hypothesis is controversial, it is not as unrealistic as it seems, but it is less exciting than the facts.

Increasingly, scientists are discovering that psilocybin, a psychoactive alkaloid found in the mushrooms Psilocybe semilanceata, cubensis, azurescens, and cyanescens, is a brain activator. More specifically, the connection promotes the growth of new neurons (a process known as neurogenesis) and optimizes the connections between them (neuroplasticity), freeing us from established patterns of thinking and behavior and dramatically enhancing cognitive abilities. And this can happen within hours of consuming even a small amount of psilocybin, enhancing your competitive edge in the workplace.

There are also many reports of almost magical relief from depression, anxiety, drug addiction, post-traumatic stress disorder, aggression, and other negative states of mind. Paul Stametz himself, thanks to a particularly profound experience with magic mushrooms, was immediately and permanently cured of a lifelong stutter.

Although these substances are illegal in most countries (although some are already making progress in this area), not only is psilocybin safe for humans, in fact, they work in concert with the brain allowing it to do what it is supposed to do, but more efficiently.

1. Mushrooms can save the planet

In fact, mushrooms save the planet every day, because without them, dead plants would not turn back into soil, and life on Earth would soon disappear under mountains of lifeless debris. However, there is another, perhaps more important way that mushrooms can save the world - from you and me.

It is already well known that many species of mushrooms are excellent for biological remediation—removing toxic substances such as pesticides from healthy soil. These chemicals are widely used throughout the world and cause enormous damage to the environment as well as to global bee populations critical to natural pollination.

In addition, MycoMed, another Sametz product, promises to stop the collapse of bee colonies, which is a major threat to our nutrition. Made from polypore mycelium, which attracts bees, it prevents bees from dying prematurely. This means that younger, stay-at-home "sitter" bees won't replace older, nursing "worker" bees that are killed prematurely by, say, chemical pesticides, but can instead focus on protecting and maintaining the hive. Considering that 30% of our crops and 90% of wild plants depend on pollination, this is very good news indeed.

Mushrooms are one of the most unusual representatives of the living world of our planet, and for a long time scientists could not decide what type of organism to classify them as - plants or animals. As a result, it was decided to distinguish a separate type of organisms - the kingdom of fungi. We have collected for you a selection of interesting facts about them that can cause surprise and admiration.

1. Armillaria ostoyae or Honey Mushroom is the largest living organism on the planet. Its mycelium covers an area of ​​2,384 acres in the Blue Mountains region of Oregon, USA. The age of this mushroom is estimated at 2.5 thousand years.

2. B tropical forests In the Amazon, there are species of fungi whose spores rise high into the air, creating a surface for water to condense and thus causing rain.

3. The most expensive mushrooms in the world are truffles - their cost currently ranges from 3 to 7 dollars per 1 gram, on average.

4. Panther fly agaric and toadstool are the most poisonous mushrooms in the world - a cap of the latter is enough to poison 3-4 people. However, no type of treatment eliminates the toxic effect.

5. One of the interesting properties of mushrooms is the production of vitamin D, which, similar to the human body, is activated under the influence of sunlight.

6. At least 144 species of mushrooms contain psychoactive substances, which can cause hallucinogenic and other sensations in a person, similar to the sensations of drug use. Moreover, more than a hundred of them grow only in South America, in particular in the Caribbean.

7. The oldest mushroom was found in 1859, in a fossil that is about 420 million years old.

8. Many mushrooms, like plants, grow towards the light, following the sun. But scientists still don’t understand exactly how and why these organisms use sunlight.

9. The walls of fungal spores contain chitin, the toughest biological substance on the planet.

10. Under favorable conditions, the spores of some fungi can remain in a state of “rest” for decades and even centuries, while maintaining the ability to germinate.

11. The viability of mushrooms can surprise everyone - some of their species can withstand anything. possible types radiation, and in 2002, mycelium was even discovered inside the destroyed reactor at Chernobyl.

12. Some types of fungi produce antibiotics that destroy microorganisms that compete with them for access to nutrients.

13. 350 million years ago, in the current territory Saudi Arabia, mushrooms grew, the height of which reached 8-10 meters!

14. About 70% of all mushrooms sold in the world are grown in China.

15. Veselka vulgaris is the fastest growing type of mushroom. Although they live only about two days, their growth rate can reach 5 mm per hour.

16. Tinder fungi growing on tree trunks can live up to 80 years.

17. Mushrooms are a valuable source of protein, and at the same time, contain almost zero cholesterol.

The world of mushrooms keeps many secrets, and it is quite possible that new interesting discoveries await us soon.

© depositphotos.com

Mushroom season is officially considered to be autumn. Nevertheless, we encounter mushrooms all year round, not only in the kitchen, but also in life. Even know-it-alls, skeptics and mushroom pickers with many years of experience are often surprised at how diverse and amazing these living creatures are (you can’t even call them plants).

When does mushroom season begin? best time for preparing future delicacies. And everyone is in a hurry to prepare mushrooms for future use: they are dried, pickled, salted and rolled. The properties and benefits are especially obvious during fasting, for example - they are very nutritious and can even replace meat in our diet.

READ ALSO:

Mushroom Fact #1 - Animals or Plants?

The answer to this question did not exist for a very long time, until in 1960 they were separated into a separate kingdom of fungi. In terms of protein content, mushrooms are closer to animals, and in terms of the composition of carbohydrates and minerals - to plants.

Mushroom Fact #2 - Mushrooms are older than dinosaurs

Interesting facts about mushrooms © depositphotos.com

It has been proven that mushrooms existed 400 million years ago, that is, long before the appearance of dinosaurs. They are one of the oldest inhabitants of the planet, along with ferns. But if the giant ferns that survived from the same period were significantly reduced, then the mushrooms, adapting, changed and, it seems, all these species still exist.

Mushroom Fact #3 - Mushrooms are very durable

Interesting facts about mushrooms © depositphotos.com

READ ALSO:

Fact about mushrooms No. 4 - All the mushrooms have not yet been counted

Interesting facts about mushrooms © depositphotos.com

Scientists consider mushrooms to be the most diverse living creatures on our planet. There are so many of them that for each type of plant there are 6 types of mushrooms. With the most approximate calculation, it turns out that there are about 2 million species of mushrooms. At the same time, only 100 thousand have been studied, and even less have been classified.

Mushroom Fact #5 - Mushrooms tan

Interesting facts about mushrooms © depositphotos.com

Surprisingly, mushrooms, given enough sunlight, produce vitamin D - the color of their cap depends on this. That is, they actually tan.

Mushroom Fact #6 - Mushroom Records

Interesting facts about mushrooms © depositphotos.com

Hard to believe, but very big porcini mushroom found in America (Wisconsin) in 1985. It weighed 140 kg and had a reach of two meters.

A mycelium was found in Oregon, covering an area of ​​900 hectares and weighing several hundred tons.

And in Switzerland, a mushroom about 1000 years old was discovered - honey fungus, measuring 800x500 meters. Its mycelium occupies 35 hectares of the Swiss national park in Ofenpass.

READ ALSO:

Mushroom Fact #7 - Mushrooms are predators and killers

Interesting facts about mushrooms © depositphotos.com

Fungi feed on worms, setting traps for them. If a worm touches such a trap, it sticks to it and immediately becomes entangled in the threads of the mycelium. There is no chance of escape.

Fungal spores can germinate inside living things. In this case, the person gets sick, and the caterpillar dies altogether. The fungus is just developing.

One small toadstool is enough to kill 4 people. But you will need several fly agarics.

In ancient times, potent poisons were prepared from mushrooms and were actively used to eliminate opponents. For example, Emperor Claudius was poisoned by his wife Agrippina by making toadstool soup.

Fact about mushrooms No. 8 - Mushrooms are healers and “parents” of antibiotics

Interesting facts about mushrooms © depositphotos.com

Mushrooms have been used since ancient times as medicines. Even now, in many homes, tea or milk mushroom grows in jars, a drink from which improves immunity and fights inflammatory diseases.

In 1940, A. Flemming isolated penicillin from yeast fungi, opening the era of antibiotics.

Various mushrooms, including champignons, have medicinal properties. And the skin of puffball mushrooms is used instead of an adhesive plaster - its inner part is sterile and has bactericidal properties.

Mushroom Fact #9 - Mushrooms can break through asphalt

Interesting facts about mushrooms © depositphotos.com

During the growth period, the pressure of the fungus reaches seven atmospheres (which is equal to the pressure in the tires of a ten-ton dump truck). Therefore, a seemingly soft mushroom cap can break through not only asphalt and concrete, but also through harder surfaces such as marble and iron.

Mushroom Fact #10 - Mushrooms glow in the dark

Interesting facts about mushrooms © depositphotos.com

Some mushrooms have luminous mycelium. For example, when autumn and the mushroom season arrive, in the dark you can see how the honey mushroom mycelium, growing densely on rotten stumps, glows - phosphorescent. This sight used to greatly frighten people, who immediately populated the forest with witches and goblin. What’s interesting is that the flickering of such lights resembles the movement of living beings, as it changes with every tilt and every turn of the head.

Mushroom Fact #11 - Mushrooms are a valuable nutritious food.

Interesting facts about mushrooms © depositphotos.com

Mushrooms are a source of protein and, to a lesser extent, carbohydrates, while completely free of cholesterol and animal saturated fats. Therefore, they can safely become a healthier alternative to meat. In addition to protein and carbohydrates, mushrooms are rich in vitamins B1, B2, D, selenium, potassium, niacin and antioxidants. So don’t cut them out of your diet, even when the mushroom season ends.

Interesting facts about mushrooms

interesting facts about mushrooms


People knew about mushrooms already in the distant past. In the 4th century BC, the Greek scientist Theophrastus mentioned truffles, morels, and champignons in his works. Five centuries later, the Roman naturalist Pliny also wrote about mushrooms. He was the first to try to divide mushrooms into beneficial and harmful.


interesting facts about mushrooms


In Switzerland, porcini mushrooms, which grow in abundance there, are not collected or eaten.


In Japan, one type of champignon - maitake - is considered not only the most useful, but also a healing mushroom. The Japanese claim that it lowers blood pressure, strengthens the immune system, and has antioxidant properties. The French believe that the classic French champignon contains much more useful substances than the Japanese one.

To get fatal poisoning, you need to eat 3-4 kg of red fly agarics in one sitting.

Scientists estimate that there are about 1.5-2 million species of fungi on Earth, of which only 80,000 have been properly classified. There are so many types of mushrooms that there are 6 types of mushrooms for every 1 plant species on Earth.

The largest mushroom, weighing 140 kilograms and covering almost two meters, was found in 1985 in the US state of Wisconsin.

For years, scientists classified mushrooms as plants. However, upon closer examination, they discovered that fungi have more in common with animals than with plants. Mushrooms lack chlorophyll, so they cannot get their food from sunlight like plants. But they also don't have a stomach to digest food like animals.

Fungotherapy - treatment with mushrooms - is used for bronchial asthma, wounds, to increase immunity and reduce cholesterol levels in the blood.

Over the course of a year, the mycelium grows by 10–12 cm.

The mushroom can be called the largest living creature on the planet. Some underground myceliums living in North America, occupy an area of ​​hundreds of hectares and have a weight tens of times greater than the weight of a family of whales. One of these mushrooms grows in the US state of Oregon. Its mycelium occupies almost 900 hectares and weighs hundreds of tons. It spreads along the roots of other plants, gradually killing them. Many fungi are known to be very aggressive and cause the death of many other creatures.

Truffle is the most expensive mushroom in the world. Its best varieties sell for 2.5 thousand dollars per 1 kg.

49% of Russians pick mushrooms themselves, 20% buy them at the market, 16% prefer to buy them in a store, and about a fifth of the population does not eat mushrooms at all.

There is enough poison in the toadstool to kill three or four people.

Saffron milk caps are probably the only milk mushrooms that can be eaten raw.

Scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Countryside Research (WSL) have discovered what may be the largest mushroom in Europe. It was determined that the monster mushroom is a honey fungus (Armillaria ostoyae), albeit 800 meters long and 500 meters wide. The area covered by the mushroom is 35 hectares of the Swiss national park near the city of Ofenpass, the age of the mushroom is approximately one thousand years. The main part of the mushroom is hidden underground, and it consists of an extensive network of sometimes very thick threads. Scientists claim that the reason why the mushroom was not discovered by anyone is that it is inedible in adulthood.

In Slavic folk demonology, mushrooms are living beings, have the gift of speech, turn into toads and worms, then into gold, and are capable of taking away strength and health from people. From time immemorial, Russians have called mushrooms growing in circles “witch’s rings.”

Carnivorous plants, such as flowers, are widely known to lure insects inside. But there are also carnivorous mushrooms. Most of their species prey on nematode worms, luring them into a trap and pulling them together with their mycelium. There are also predatory fungi, the victims of which are amoebas or springtails.

There is still a one-of-a-kind “walking” mushroom in the world - plasmodium. A snail in comparison is a real sprinter, but still this mushroom can crawl along a fallen tree or climb a stump in a few days. Plasmodium doesn’t need a leg for this, and it doesn’t have one at all, because it resembles something between a jellyfish and a piece of jellied meat. When moving, the mushroom does not walk, but rolls.

Mushrooms are a unique creation of nature. IN folk medicine mushrooms are considered one of the best medicines, which can cure everything from the common cold to a malignant tumor. Suffice it to remember that the first antibiotic was isolated from the penicillium fungus and named penicillin.

It is a known fact that mushrooms reproduce by spores. Their enormous number is amazing! The meadow champignon, with a cap eight centimeters in diameter, releases up to 40 million spores per hour, with a total number of approximately 1.8 billion. And this is not a chapel! The number of spores in the giant raincoat ranges from 5 to 6 billion!

The star-shaped mushroom, nicknamed the Devil's Cigar (Chorioactis geaster), is one of the rarest mushrooms in the world. It is also known as the Texas Star and has been found only in central Texas, two remote locations in Japan, and most recently in the Nara Mountains. The devil's cigar is a dark brown, cigar-shaped capsule that takes on a star shape when it opens to release its spores. Interesting fact - this is the only mushroom that makes a whistling sound when releasing spores.

Veselka vulgaris is the most mysterious mushroom of our forests. And also the most famous. This amazing representative of the mushroom world is included in the Guinness Book as a record holder for the fastest growth rate - in one minute he throws out a stem that grows 5 mm every minute! Accordingly, the life of this truly healing mushroom lasts only one or two days. The first day - it looks like a nondescript grayish gelatinous egg, and on the second this egg throws out a leg with an umbrella. By evening, the mushroom oozes foul-smelling mucus - and by morning all that remains is a wet spot.

Many mushrooms fly through the air, causing food to become moldy. There are fungi that live in the upper layers of the atmosphere, at an altitude of over 30 kilometers. There are fungi that live inside mammals. There are fungi that can withstand any type of radiation and even pressure up to 8 thousand atmospheres. Cases of the development of mold fungi on the surface of sulfuric acid have been recorded.

Mushrooms have been eaten for almost all of human history. In my own way chemical composition and protein content, mushrooms are closer to meat than to plant products. And in terms of the quantity and composition of carbohydrates, minerals they are still closer to vegetables and fruits.

Mushrooms, like humans, can produce vitamin D, an important nutrient for the body and bones, when they are exposed to sunlight.

The Greeks called mushrooms the food of the gods, and the Aztecs called them the flesh of God. In Taoism they are considered the food of geniuses and immortals

Milk mushrooms are used for kidney stones and blenorrhea.

In 2002, in a destroyed reactor Chernobyl nuclear power plant The robot discovered mushrooms! Not only did they not die, but they also reproduced beautifully. Scientists have conducted a series of studies and found out amazing fact, these mushrooms need radiation to live, just like other plants need light. A huge amount of melanin was found in these mushrooms. This substance is present in human skin and protects it from ultraviolet radiation. It helps mushrooms survive high radiation.

Neon green mushrooms, or Mycena chlorophos, grow during the rainy season in the forests of Japan and Brazil, scattering their flaming spores across the ground. Excellent growing habitats include the bases of tree trunks, fallen tree limbs, leaf piles and moist soil. The neon mushroom can mainly be found on Mesamiyama Island in Ougui, Japan and national park Tourist of the Ribeira Valley. The appearance of these mushrooms in Brazil is due to bioluminescence, which is one of the strangest but beautiful reactions that occurs in many plants and animals.



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