Fungi Notes
The Fungi are probably the most overlooked and misunderstood of living things. They are nature's scavengers or recyclers, converting dead plant and animal waste back into nutrients usable by the higher plants. We know them from their fruiting bodies, which produce the spores, but the significant part of the fungus is an invisible threadlike network, called a mycelium.
In contrast to the "green plants", fungi do not contain chlorophyll for photosynthesis and can not make their own food. We therefore do not see any really green fungi, although some of them have a greenish tinge, and many species have quite bright colours and some unusual shapes, as you will see in this introductory selection.
Key expressions you will encounter when studying and identifying fungi are:
- Fruiting body – the mushroom or bracket-shaped structure that produces the spores.
- Mycelium – the thread like body of the fungus.
- Parasite [parasitic] – an organism feeding off a living host.
- Saprophyte [saprophytic] – an organism feeding on dead and decomposing material.
- Spore – the fungal equivalent of a seed.
- Symbiosis [symbiotic] – a living partnership where two species have a mutually-beneficial association, e.g. a tree and a fungus.
(By the way, a mushroom is a toadstool, a toadstool is a mushroom, and they are all fungi!)
What if I see one of these fungi?
If you see any of these fungi, why not make a note of when and where they are growing and on what they are growing and send it to the Lincolnshire Trust at Banovallum House? These records are very important and help us to understand the ecology of the county.
If you require further information please contact Ken Rowland (ken.rowland@talk21.com) at the Lincolnshire Naturalists' Union.
