Meet the Mushrooms
1After a rainy night, you might see mushrooms popping up on a lawn or along a forest trail. Many people think mushrooms are plants, because they grow in the ground and stay in one place. But mushrooms are not plants at all. They belong to a group of living things called fungi.
2Plants make their own food. They use sunlight, air, and water to do it. Fungi cannot make their own food. Instead, they take in food from the things they grow on, such as dead leaves and old logs.
3The mushroom you see is only a small part of a fungus. Most of the fungus is hidden underground or inside a log. It is a large web of thin threads that spreads out in every direction. The mushroom pops up from these threads, a bit like an apple grows on a tree.
4Under the cap of many mushrooms are thin folds called gills. The gills drop millions of tiny specks called spores. Spores are so small that you would need a microscope to see just one. The wind carries them away, and some land in places where they can grow into new fungi.
5Fungi are important helpers in a forest. As they feed on fallen leaves and dead trees, they break them down into tiny bits. Those bits become part of the soil and help new plants grow. Without fungi, much more dead wood would pile up on the forest floor.
6Some mushrooms are safe to eat, but others are poisonous. Many poisonous mushrooms look a lot like safe ones. That is why you should never pick and eat a wild mushroom. Look at mushrooms with your eyes, and leave them where they grow.