The most interesting facts about mushrooms. Interesting mushrooms of the world

One of the most mysterious living organisms on earth are mushrooms. Scientists previously attributed them to the kingdom of plants, and because of this mycology - the science of mushrooms - has long been part of the division of botany, rather than biology. Now it is already clear that the fungi are somewhere in between the plants and animals, and researchers today know about 100 thousand of their species.

What is a fungus?

In the lessons of schoolchildren about mushrooms, as a rule, They are said to consist of the ground part - the fruit body, and the underground part - the mycelium or, in a different way, the mycelium, which spreads in the soil or other substrate in the form of extremely thin, a few microns thick, arachnoid filaments. Each of the threads, which are countless in the mycelium, are called hyphae.

The fruiting body can live no more than ten days, and the mycelium exists for tens and even hundreds of years, perfectly tolerating drought or severe frost.

The sites of hyphae at some point gather into tangles, which gradually increase, and their cells, stretching, form a young fruiting body (what we call a fungus), which breaks through the substrate and grows. From this moment we can admire them or collect them in a basket.

By the way, the fungus can to some extent be considered the largest living being of the planet. In North America, for example, there are huge mycelium in the area of hundreds of hectares. And their weight is more than the weight of seven whales!

About reproduction of mushrooms

Interesting facts about fungi can be learned from the peculiarities of their reproduction. The body of the fungus, which we so enjoy eating, is only the organ of its reproduction, which spreads spores that allow the development of new mycelium.

By the way, even in any room it is possible to detect spores of fungi, taking for this an air sample.

Traditional fungi, such as champignons, eject, for example, about 40 million spores, and the mushroom-manure - 100 million. But the most prolific in this sense is the mushroom-raincoat, which has more than 7 trillion spores ready for reproduction. And they fly out at the speed of the car - 90 km / h and spread over an area of more than 2 m.

Sprouting, soft-looking mushroom body cap can penetrate not only the soil, but also asphalt, concrete and even iron or marble. And where it can not germinate, the barrier gradually destroys the mycelium.

Mushrooms can create their own weather

Trying to tell everything about mushrooms, we can not fail to mention that these creatures can change weather conditions for themselves. After all, the terrestrial part of the fungus usually spreads spores passively, that is, they move with an air current. And if absolute windlessness occurs, then such mushrooms, for example, as oyster mushrooms or shiitake, as the researchers have discovered, produce water vapor, which creates air movement in the form of convection currents and is capable of transferring spores a certain distance.

Beliefs associated with mushrooms

Whatever the science tells about mushrooms, but a person has long been associated with many beliefs and rituals. For example, when collecting mushrooms, one should not talk loudly or swear, otherwise they will hide. A huge harvest of mushrooms is a grim foreshadowing of the upcoming cataclysms.

A woman who has seen mushrooms in a dream should be expected to be added to the family, and a man - to take care of his health, becoming more legible in relations with the ladies.

It is interesting that some mushrooms, germinating, form the right circles. In Holland and Germany, such mushrooms are not collected, since these "witchy circles" are considered to be a bewitched place, and in Scotland - a place pointing to the buried treasured treasure.

Separately about white mushrooms

Talking about mushrooms, a white mushroom can not be ignored. It has long been considered a delicacy and a king amongst its kind in Russia. If you do not even mention its taste and aroma, which, incidentally, remains even after drying, it still turns out that the white fungus is a wonderful gift of nature.

It found antibiotics killing Koch's wand, and antitumour substances. People who have anemia, as well as inflammatory diseases, white fungus is very useful. In addition, he reproaches the process of wound healing, normalizes thyroid function, improves the condition of nails, hair and skin, and also helps the body to recover from infections. Not a mushroom, but a whole pharmacy!

About the form of mushrooms

You can talk a lot about mushrooms. White mushroom, boletus , boletus and other objects of "quiet hunting" - this, of course, is not all mushroom kingdom.

There are in our forests and a lot of mushrooms, having a bizarre shape and color. For example, a mushroom-hornet, which has a bright orange color and resembles twigs of corals, or a lattice red, ripening from a white egg-like body and acquiring the appearance of a bright red lattice balloon over time.

By the way, this mushroom is attributed to the fungus-flowers. Such fungi are especially numerous in the tropical forests. There are absolutely unique creatures resembling, for example, a glass, like a mushroom from India, or red, armed with tentacles mushroom from Java. And the most outlandish with confidence can be considered a diktiafor mushroom bell-shaped, growing in the forests of South America. He grows up in just two hours and then throws out from under his hat an openwork white coverlet that envelops a snow-white leg and glows in the evening with a greenish mystical color. Local residents, by the way, call it "The Lady Under the Veil".

Amazing mushrooms of the planet: "bleeding tooth" and "earth star"

To understand how unusual these living organisms are, we will describe the most interesting mushrooms in the world.

Gidnellum Peka or "Bleeding tooth". This amazing mushroom can be seen in the coniferous forests of Central Europe and on the northwestern coast of the Pacific Ocean. The bright red liquid that it emits is really like a drop of blood. In addition, it has a very bitter taste, which scares animals and people.

«Earth star». This mushroom is attributed to raincoats that live in all latitudes of the world. He is notable for his ability to change his appearance when he emerged from under the ground. The rays of this "star" gradually bend downward, and the spherical fruit body is raised and "fires" with spores into the air. Indians consider this mushroom capable of predicting future heavenly phenomena.

Interesting facts about fungi Yezhovik and plasmodia

Very interesting is the comb ejovik, which does not look like a traditional mushroom at all. It, more likely, reminds seaweed which somehow have appeared on a tree where, by the way, the ёжовик very much likes to grow. Correctly cooked, the mushroom is very tasty, but in addition, it is able to reduce the level of glucose in the blood of a person and has the ability to protect the body from toxic effects.

Considering plasmodium, you can find out some more interesting facts. About mushrooms you can not think that they can move, but it turns out, and they know how. Plasmodium, of course, is not a sprinter, but within a few days it can climb to a favorite stump. Like this! Stepping, or rather, rolling this miracle of nature in the middle band of Russia and looks very much like a jellyfish.

The brightest and fastest growing mushroom

Very attractive looks traced colorful multicolored stripes - it is a common worldwide species of mushrooms, which lives mainly on the trunks of dead trees. The scientists found out that the substance from this fungus increases immunity and can be of great help in the treatment of cancer, and in Chinese medicine it has been used for many centuries.

And here's another interesting thing about mushrooms: by the way, these organisms can tan. They produce vitamin D, and the color of their cap largely depends on how much sunlight they have on their habitat.

In the Guinness book of records introduced mushroom-veselka, which for 2 minutes grows by 1 cm. Appearing from under the ground, it looks like a grayish egg, the next day - this is an umbrella on a thin stalk, and on the third day the aerial part of the fungus disappears.

About the habitats of mushrooms: where they just do not live!

Mushrooms are amazing and that they can exist in the most incredible conditions. They feel great inside mammals and in the upper atmosphere, at an altitude of about 30 km. The researchers have such curious information about the fungi: they, it turns out, can withstand all types of irradiation and can develop even on sulfuric acid.

And in 2002, on the territory of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in a destroyed reactor, scientists discovered fungi, to which radiation was necessary for growth in the same way as light to plants. The composition of these amazing organisms includes an incredible amount of melanin, the same substance that protects our skin from ultraviolet radiation.

Interesting about mushrooms - predators

There are also predator fungi, hunting for small insects. They have sticky build-ups or other devices for hunting. For example, a fungus can discard spores that stick to the body of the caterpillar and begin to germinate in it. The victim, of course, dies.

And all about the mushrooms of the Cordyceps species lopsided until it was not possible to find out. He, by the way, can generally turn an insect into a zombie. As he does, scientists are not known, but the ant, into whose respiratory system the fungal spores have got, "obediently" goes to a place that is convenient for the further development of the parasite that has settled in it. The ant finds such a plant and climbs it, selecting a sheet with a suitable temperature and humidity, and then digs into it from the back of the sheet. The fungus kills an ant, germinating in it, and getting out through the back of the head, throws new spores-killers.

Mushrooms help clean the planet

We know about poisonous mushrooms, predator mushrooms, parasitic fungi, but we should not forget that they can also render invaluable help with their tremendous ability to live where other organisms die.

So, the expedition from Yale University found in the jungle of Ecuador a new kind of fungus (Pestalotiopsis microspora). These organisms feed on polyurethane, and do so even without access to oxygen. This promises in the future the prospect of getting rid of the material, which practically does not decompose, strongly clogging the planet.

Mushrooms have sex!

Of course, science can not yet state that it knows everything about mushrooms. Every now and then researchers make discoveries in mycology. For example, scientists have identified a gene that is responsible for the mushroom belonging to the female or male sex. He, incidentally, is located in short sequences of DNA, reminiscent of the sex chromosomes in humans.

Mushrooms, it turns out, are a very suitable model for studying gender differences at the genetic level.

Mushrooms are much older than dinosaurs

Mycologists have absolutely amazing information about mushrooms: as it turned out, they inhabited the Earth 400 million years ago! It turns out that they are older than dinosaurs. These are the most ancient inhabitants of the planet who lived together with giant ferns and, unlike the latter, did not grind, but modified and adapted, retaining their appearance until the present times.

And we will, apparently, find out about them many more interesting facts. Mushrooms are still too little known, but it is already clear that these organisms are worth the most detailed and careful study.