Molds are unusual fungi that can only be examined in detail under a microscope, but their overgrown colonies are visible to the naked eye. We are all not eager to see mold on the walls of our apartments or on food, knowing that it causes serious harm to the human body. But there are also benefits from mold...
We present to you amazing facts about mold - an inhabitant of the Earth that appeared on our planet much earlier than humans. Mold is more than two hundred million years old.
Molds have many varieties that differ from each other appearance, colors, properties. These microscopic mushrooms can be black, green, blue, yellow, red, white and many other colors. They may look like a fluffy mat, powder, film or crust.
Mold loves high humidity and moderate temperatures. One square meter mold produces several billion spores per day, which spread through the air and quickly germinate, piercing everything around with their thin threads.
Molds also love dirt - the more neglected your home is, the more likely it is to see it on the walls, tiles and other objects in the apartment.
And mold fungi are very fond of cotton fabric.
Mold yellow color, formed on some foods (grains, nuts, seeds, fruits with a high oil content, tea), is the most poisonous. It contains lethal dangerous substance– aflatoxin, which does not lose its “killing” properties even after heat treatment. Aflatoxin causes rapid liver damage and death in just a few days. For example, in India, where such mold often affects rice, cirrhosis of the liver is not uncommon.
But other types of molds, which are not so poisonous, can cause serious diseases. They can cause allergies, skin diseases, headache, decreased immunity, lung diseases and even oncology.
For example, in Africa there is one Bantu tribe, for whom moldy foods are a delicacy and a traditional national food. According to experts, this was the reason for the very short life these people who often die from liver cancer.
When we see mold on food, we try to remove only this “fluffy” part, and eat the rest. This should not be done under any circumstances, since mold spores quickly penetrate the entire product and, therefore, enter our body with it.
This is not surprising, since small and seemingly harmless mold is quite tenacious. In my opinion, the expression “when we are together, we are strong” applies to her. Tiny fungi collected in huge colonies represent powerful force- they take over large areas, destroy plaster, brick and even more durable Construction Materials. And what can we say about the human body!
Among all the variety of mold, there is also luminous mold - it was discovered in the Phanagoria cave in the Caucasus. It is capable of emitting light quite well - you can see objects at a distance of half a meter from it.
As historians say, there is one fail-safe method of dealing with harmful mold- you need to ring the bells. Supposedly this sound kills the growth of mold cells. Although, in my opinion, this is a controversial issue.
People have known about mold for a long time and are trying to fight it. Alexander the Great also ordered the impregnation of ships and bridges olive oil, and Noah treated his ark with pitch. And all in order to combat the spread of mold.
Mold has even been found in Tutankhamun's tomb. Her autopsy led to a series of mysterious deaths. Those who were “entered” into the tomb died. They immediately started talking about the curse of Tutankhamun's mummy, but decades later scientists still found the cause of death - it was poisonous mold.
Molds are not killed by the arctic cold; they are even afraid large dose radiation. After the Chernobyl accident, the mold at the epicenter of the explosion became thicker and more widespread.
Mold, along with the astronauts, was in outer space- her spores were on the outside spaceship. So, they not only did not disappear in airless space, but also “hardened”, gaining resistance to various external factors.
Japanese scientists “suspected” the presence of intelligence in mold. They conducted the following experiment: they made a labyrinth, at one entrance they placed a piece of sugar, and at the other - mold. Surprisingly, mold fungi found their way to the treasured sweet piece within a few hours. When they reached a dead end, they turned around and walked in a different direction. Moreover, a piece of the mold that found the sugar was pinched off and placed again at the entrance. She did not repeat the path she had taken again, but having determined the direction to the piece of sugar, she climbed over the walls of the maze and quickly reached the “sweet prize.” It turns out that mold has not only intelligence, but also memory?
But there is also useful mold(noble mold) that can be eaten. The French add it to Chateau d'Yquem wine and Roquefort cheese, and the Italians add it to sausage. We've already heard about blue cheese, but about sausage...
It turns out that the sausages are kept in special cellars for a month so that they become covered with green mold. After this they are processed in a special way, stand for another three months, and only after that they are served.
But once upon a time, mold served people with great benefits. I mean the invention of the antibiotic penicillin, which has saved, is saving and will save the lives of many people. What does mold have to do with it?
Back in the 19th century, scientists noticed that some tribes treated horse wounds with mold taken from the saddles. And in 1928, scientist Alexander Fleming noticed that due to improper indoor conditions, filamentous staphylococcus bacteria had grown in some laboratory vessels. green mold(Penicillium notatum). A little time passed, and she killed the staphylococcal colonies, which were previously considered invincible. Fleming called the medicinal substance of this mold penicillin, and a decade later people learned to extract it in its pure form and use it for treatment.
Mold is also used in the production of citric acid.
Mold is one of the oldest living organisms on Earth. It appeared 200 million years ago and learned to survive in any conditions: radiation, arctic ice and outer space. It saves lives and can kill.
Smart mold
Remember old experiment, where a rat must find the right path through a maze to get food. So, as Japanese scientist Toshuki Nakagaki found out, mold copes with this task no worse. In 2000, he conducted an experiment by placing the mold “Physarum polycephalum” at the entrance to the maze and a piece of sugar at the exit.
The mold immediately sprouted in the direction of sugar, and fungal spores filled the entire space in the labyrinth, bifurcating at every intersection. As soon as one of the processes reached a dead end, it turned back and looked for a path in a different direction. It took the microscopic mushroom only 4 hours to fill all the passages of the labyrinth and find the right path to sugar.
But what is most interesting is that when a piece of the mushroom mycelium that had already passed through the labyrinth was pinched off and placed again at the entrance to the labyrinth, adding sugar at the end, one of the sprouts unerringly chose the shortest path to the exit from the labyrinth and the sugar, and the second simply “climbed up” along the walls of the labyrinth and crawled along the ceiling. Thus, simple mold discovered not only the rudiments of memory, but also the ability to non-standard way solving problems, which indicates the presence of intelligence in the mushroom.
Dangerous mold
Mold accompanies us everywhere; it lives in huge colonies in bathrooms, apartments, ventilation shafts, and, most unpleasantly, in our refrigerators. Therefore, people are accustomed to simply not noticing it. And in vain.
In addition to the fact that the microscopic fungus is capable of destroying entire buildings, it is also poisonous to human body. During the growth process, it produces substances that affect the lungs, intestines, and skin. Their disputes penetrate into Airways and “settle” inside us, opening the way for bacteria and viruses. Allergies are perhaps the most harmless consequence of living with mold as a neighbor. A microscopic fungus can destroy DNA structure and lead to cancer.
According to scientists, mold and its poison are practically not eliminated from the body. The most dangerous in this case, is considered to be yellow mold from the genus Aspergillus, which “grows” on dairy products, fish and nuts. It releases a dangerous substance, aflatoxin, which accumulates in the body and after 10 years can cause liver cancer.
Curse of Tutankhamun
At least two mysterious deaths following archaeologist Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun's intact tomb are now being blamed on mold. It turned out that the mold fungus Aspergillus niger was still living in the mummy's lung tissue, which can be fatal for people with weakened immune systems or with a damaged pulmonary system.
The first victim of “Tutankhamun,” the organizer and sponsor of the excavations, Lord Carnarvon, long before the discovery of the tomb, was in a terrible car accident in which he damaged his lung. He died of pneumonia some time after visiting the tomb. Following him, another participant in the excavations died, Arthur Mace, who, by tragic accident, was seriously ill before the start of the excavations. His weakened immune system provided the perfect environment for the mold's deadly qualities to manifest itself.
Invincible mold
One of the main and most dangerous properties mold is its ubiquity. Microscopic fungi are able to survive, without exaggeration, in any conditions. They feel great among arctic ice, on the radioactive sarcophagus of the 4th power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, and even in outer space.
Thus, as part of the Biorisk experiment, which was aimed at studying the influence of outer space conditions on living organisms, three capsules with spores of the mold fungi Penicillium, Aspergillus and Cladosporium were taken into outer space and attached to the casing orbital station. The results were simply stunning: after a six-month stay in outer space, mold spores not only survived, but also mutated, becoming more aggressive and resistant.
And this is not a record yet. Researchers placed a mold from the genus Aspergillus fumigatus in a test tube with a powerful antifungal drug. Part of the colony survived the attack. And this is despite the fact that the chance of mold surviving in these conditions was exactly the same as that of a person placed in concentrated sulfuric acid.
Mold and antibiotics
Penicillin, the world's first antibiotic that saved the lives of hundreds of thousands of military personnel during World War II, was first developed by British bacteriologist Alexander Fleming in 1928 from a strain of the mold Penicillum notatum.
As with most brilliant discoveries, this happened completely by accident. In one of the Petri dishes with staphylococcus bacteria, as a result improper storage gray-green mold has grown. Fleming was surprised to discover that the unkillable colonies of staphylococci, which claimed so many lives during the First World War, simply dissolved around this mold. The miracle medicine, from which all the wounds of the military healed literally before our eyes, was refined already during the Second World War. For presentation Nobel Prize The creators of the panacea, Fleming, Cheyne and Flory, were told: “To win the war, penicillin did more than 25 divisions!”
"Noble" mold
Doctors strongly recommend that if a product begins to mold, it must be thrown away. Simply removing the affected area will do nothing. If it is soft fruit, bread or jam, then the mycelium has most likely spread to the entire product.
But not all mold that grows on food is dangerous. There is also edible mold, with the help of which humanity has been making delicious blue cheeses and Camembert for several centuries.
At the beginning of the 15th century, the French king Charles VI gave the residents of the village of Roquefort a monopoly on the production of cheese of the same name in the local limestone caves. The technology hasn't changed much since then. Each wheel of cheese, made from sheep's milk, is pierced through with long needles so that mold spores can enter it. A stable high humidity And low temperatures provide fast growth mushrooms
Another popular product obtained using mold is the French wine Chateau d'Yquem. To make it, grapes are affected by “noble rot” - the fungus Bodritis cinerea, due to which the skin of the berry loses its tightness, the fruit itself shrinks, but the contents become more concentrated. Chateau d'Yquem, the favorite wine of the Russian aristocracy of the 19th century, is today one of the most expensive wines in the world.
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Unlike ordinary mushrooms, moldy mushrooms do not have large fruiting bodies, and the mycelium of many of them can only be seen with a microscope. Let's look at some of the types of these amazing and unique mushrooms, and also present some interesting facts related to these unusual mushrooms.
Earth's longevity
These unique mushrooms are one of the oldest living organisms on our planet. Mold appeared 200 million years before man appeared on Earth, evolving from the animal world. And according to some data, mold could have appeared much earlier, during the Cambrian period (about 600 million years ago).
Intelligent substance
The uniqueness of molds is that they harmoniously combine both plant and animal characteristics. To exist, they, like all living things on the planet, need oxygen and food.
Some scientists believe that mold has intelligence, and Japanese researchers, after conducting a series of experiments, stated that mold fungi have the rudiments of intelligence.
And below you can see stunning footage of mold growing:
In 2000, the Japanese Toshuki Nakagaki built a labyrinth, at one of the entrances of which he placed the mushroom Physarum polycephalum. A piece of sugar was placed at the other end of the maze.
The mold immediately began to sprout in the direction of the sugar, and after 4 hours, through trial and error, it reached the delicacy. Having pinched off a piece of the mushroom, the scientist again placed it at the beginning of the labyrinth, and the mushroom followed the shortest path.
And another part, having climbed the wall, began its path to the sugar along the ceiling. It turns out that mold has the rudiments of memory and the ability to solve difficult problems in a non-standard way.
A silent killer
There are several types of mold that can cause serious illness and even death. The most dangerous is yellow mold, named for its characteristic yellowish color.
Yellowish molds saturate the air and food with aflatoxin, which causes increased fatigue, severe headaches, and even cancer.
The worst thing is that once this type of mold enters the human body, it remains in it forever and attacks vital organs.
Curse of Tutankhamun
Howard Carter explored the tomb of Tutankhamun in 1922, and in the following decades, almost all the participants in that famous expedition died under mysterious circumstances.
The scientific world started talking about the curse of the pharaoh, but everything turned out to be more prosaic. In the burial and in the lungs of the pharaoh there was a fungus that caused severe pneumonia.
Later they found out that these were spores of the fungus Aspergillus nigerus. I wonder if it got there by accident, or if the ancient Egyptians knew about its ability to kill and placed the mushroom to protect the royal tomb from defilers.
In space
One of the unique things about mold is its ubiquity. During one of the experiments, some species were placed on the hull of an orbital station.
Six months later, their condition was checked, and it turned out that they not only survived, but also mutated, adapting to the conditions of outer space. The fungi have become resistant to changing environmental conditions, and, what surprised the researchers, are more aggressive.
By the way, several types of mold lived on the Soviet Mir orbital station, affecting high-precision and high-tech equipment.
Wide use
These unique mushrooms are widely used in human life. People use mushrooms in the production of cheeses and the production of medicines.
Some types are used for baking bread. In addition, they are widely used in the production of high-quality table wine.
Oldest mention
Reports of mold date back to the period of ancient civilizations, but the holy book of Christians even describes a way to combat it.
The Bible reports that the part of the house affected by mold must be cut out and destroyed away from the home. The remaining walls and objects not touched by mold must be washed with water.
Glowing specimens
Mold happens different colors, sizes and may have different properties. For example, there are species that glow in the dark.
This property is necessary for unusual mushrooms to attract more insects, which spread their disputes.
An unusual luminescent mold was discovered in the Phanagoria Cave in the Caucasus. The light from the fungus is so bright that you can see the facial features of the person standing next to you in these rays.
Saviors of the world
It is a well-known fact that the world's first antibiotic, penicillin, was obtained from mold, and the savior of humanity long years was literally under my feet.
Alexander Fleming discovered unusual property mold while searching for a cure for staphylococcus.
Species diversity
Now it's time to introduce individual species fungi of the moldy genus, as well as their uniqueness.
The most common and best known mushroom of the Asprgillaceae family. They can be found almost everywhere: in the air, soil, on food, and even in sea water.
In Russia you can sometimes hear the name brush mold. It is widely used in pharmacology to obtain medicines, including a large number of antibiotics.
Mushroom Mukor
This fungus, called white mold, has more than 60 species that actively develop both on the soil and on food and organic residues.
Widely used in the east to produce fermented products. For example, Chinese mukor serves as an excellent sourdough starter. It can also be used to produce ethanol from ordinary potatoes.
Fusarium
This mushroom can be of different colors, from pale pink to bright lilac. But, no matter what color the mold is, it is this type that causes irreparable damage to the national economy.
In addition, pathogenic substances produced by Fusarium are harmful to living organisms, including humans. In humans, it causes the development of keratitis.
Aspergillus black
Higher fungi from the large genus Aspergillus can cause serious diseases in animals and humans. It was he, as we already wrote, who caused the death of some participants in Carter’s archaeological expedition.
Black mold, as Aspergillus is called, grows on damp walls premises. Despite harmful properties, it is also useful. Citric acid has been produced from some varieties since 1910.
Yeast, known throughout the world, also belongs to unicellular fungi, but in the process of evolution they have lost their mycelial structure.
Yeast, according to historians, is one of the first, so to speak, “domestic” living organisms. For more than a thousand years, people have been using them in home baking and fermentation processes.
Bottom line
Here comes our message about moldy mushrooms. As you can see, the presented mushrooms can bring both benefit and irreparable harm. Science does not stand still, and scientists discover new properties and characteristics every year amazing world moldy mushrooms.
More interesting photos moldy mushrooms:
Mold is a special living organism that depletes the characteristics of both the plant and animal world. Like any living organism, it needs food and oxygen, there is an opinion that molds have a special intelligence. Japanese researchers believe that mold has the beginnings of intelligence. 
Destructive force
Mold is the most ancient inhabitant, which appeared on the planet. Mold is 200 million years older than humans. The most dangerous is the so-called yellow mold. So called because of its characteristic yellowish, dirty hue, it usually attacks food products, “saturating” them with aflatoxin. Subsequently, people face such problems.
- Fatigue syndrome.
- Headache.
- Skin problems (dermatological diseases).
- Oncology.
If such a mold fungus enters the body, it will remain there forever. Mold has enormous destructive power. Some types of mold fungi penetrate walls and destroy plaster and brick. Even concrete can't resist mold. The Bible says how to deal with mold, “if the mold has struck, I will pull it off, then you need to destroy the affected area, bring all the affected objects out of the house. 
Objects that are not affected by mold should be thoroughly washed with water.” Another type of mold that has swept across Europe like a thunderstorm is fluorescent mold. In the Middle Ages, it mowed down entire cities, causing plague. An interesting fact: when the plague raged in Moscow in the eighteenth century, on the orders of Grigory Orlov, Catherine’s favorite, alarm bells rang in all churches.
The ringing of bells in Rus' has magical power. The bells warned and protected from troubles and misfortunes. And this time, as if by magic, the plague was defeated. Modern scientists explain this phenomenon by the fact that the bell ringing sounds very high frequencies, which inhibit the growth of pathogenic microbes and mold, strengthen morale, and enhance the human immune system.
There are several dozen subspecies of mold fungi that have natural luminescent properties, glowing in the dark. This glow attracts nocturnal inhabitants. This glow helps mold to cover new space; insects attracted by the light carry spores of luminous mushrooms. 
A cave was discovered in the Caucasus, the walls of which are covered with fluorescent mold. Moreover, it emits such a strong glow that you can clearly see the facial features.
Mold as a food product
Since ancient times, people have been eating molds. Many centuries have passed since people became acquainted with beneficial properties mold cultures. As a result of this interaction, humanity received such invaluable products as kvass wine, bread, beer and mushrooms.
Today, mushrooms are one of the most important products. They are prepared on home kitchen and in the restaurant they are included in many recipes national cuisines all over the world. Mushrooms contain a large number of proteins, carbohydrates, and minerals. 
Champignons are one of the most valuable products; they promote digestion.
Mushrooms belong to the “kingdom of chaos”
Mushrooms have nothing to do with the “plant kingdom”.
- They don't have chlorophyll.
- they live off organic elements that other organisms secrete.
The world of fungi is still little studied; in the mid-eighteenth century, the Swedish biologist Linnaeus proposed placing mold in the “realm of chaos,” that is, in the world of darkness and primordial horror. By its nature, mold is close to the “human world”; it easily adapts to conditions environment, she is not afraid of cold and heat. She is able to survive in outer space, even radiation does not kill her, she only becomes stronger
It is known that a colony of “house mushrooms” is capable of squeezing all the juices out of a tree in just 50 or 100 years. After which it turns into dust. 
That's why these mushrooms are so dangerous for wooden structures and wooden buildings. It penetrates into damp or poorly dried wood, this is an ideal habitat where the fungus will get stronger and begin to multiply. Also ideal are poorly lit rooms that do not receive air with poor ventilation.
How mushrooms saved the world. The incredible discovery of penicillin
This is truly a random find; who would have thought that the raw material for the first antibiotic had been lying under humanity’s very nose for many centuries! For the first time they started talking about penicillin during the First World War, people died in the trenches in the hundreds, even simple cuts could cause death, not to mention complications such as staphylococcus and bacterial infections. Doctors had only one option: amputation of limbs.
Scientists could not stay away. And then one day bacteriologist Alexander Fleming, who was trying to find a cure for staphylococcus. Fleming noticed an interesting phenomenon: in one of the dirty cups, a prototype was placed in which mold was added. The scientist soon discovered that the mold literally devours the staphylococcal colonies that are located next to it. 
Many more years passed before the antibiotic was put into mass production in the United States. After some time, the USSR consumed “their own penicillin”; according to scientists, it was much more effective than the American one. Thus, penicillin helped save millions of lives already in the Second World War.
And more about penicillin:
- But it is contraindicated for guinea pigs; it is a deadly poison for them.
- Please note that the picture on the iPhone smartphone case is Alexander Fleming and mold.
They can live for centuries, they are able to glow in the dark, they kill bacterial infections. They rule in the kingdom of nature. Mushrooms and fungi.
Fact 1: Mushrooms as a food product.
According to archaeologists, we have been eating foods derived from yeast and mold cultures for more than 25,000 years. For example, kvass, bread, beer, wine, etc. Currently, mushrooms are included in many dishes of the national cuisines of most peoples of the world. They are rich in protein, carbohydrates, and minerals. Champignon mushrooms are especially prized. They contain enzymes that promote good digestion of food.
A snail looks for food on the Scutellinum thyroid mushroom.
Fact 2: Mushrooms are not plants.
You probably have known this for a long time that mushrooms do not belong to the plant kingdom. They do not have chlorophyll and eat organic substances that other organisms have produced. For example, depending on the type of wood, it takes 50 to 100 years for fungal colonies to reduce the wood to dust. The most harmful thing for a person is. It affects felled trees, so it is especially dangerous for wooden buildings. After a while they simply collapse. Ideal conditions for the house mushroom - dampness, darkness and stagnant, stale air.
House mushroom.
Fact 3: The discovery of penicillin was an incredible stroke of luck.
The first antibiotic, penicillin, was discovered by luck. During the First World War, many soldiers died from staphylococcus, bacterial infection. Even minor wounds led to death. Doctors had to perform tens of thousands of amputations. Scientists, in turn, puzzled over how to solve this problem. And then one day in 1928, a bacteriologist Alexander Fleming, who was working on a remedy against staphylococcus, noticed mold in one of the dirty cups. After adding it to the test samples, the indestructible colonies of staphylococcus simply dissolved around the mold.
It took 14 years of research before mass production of penicillin was launched in the United States. A year later, the USSR also launched the production of penicillin, only its own. Thus, penicillin saved millions of lives. And for guinea pigs penicillin is deadly poisonous.
Fans of medicine and lovers of everything unusual who have iPhone smartphones can rejoice. Apparently, they produced covers with the image of Alexander Fleming and mold especially for them.
Fact 4: Mushrooms as biological pesticides.
Entomopathogenic fungi are used as biopesticides for pest control. They attack insects and kill them. True, they also have back side medals. From the 8th to the mid-19th centuries, sericulture successfully developed in Europe, until in one of the provinces of France the fungus Beauveria bassiana did not affect silkworms.
The disease very soon spread throughout the country, and after a while it entered Italy, Spain, Syria and other countries. To rectify the situation, a French chemist and microbiologist was specially invited to the south of France Louis Pasteur. He studied the causes of silkworm disease and, with his methods of combating the fungus, saved sericulture in France and in many other countries.
Fact 5: Witches' circles.
Witch circles (elf rings, witch rings, fairy circles) are circles on the ground formed by mushrooms. Their diameter ranges from 1 to 50 meters. But especially good conditions Fairy circles reach 200 meters. As a rule, these are circles from. No one cuts them off, unlike edible mushrooms, so they are easier to spot.
The whole body of mushrooms is called mycelium or mycelium, which is underground. And this mycelium grows at the same speed from the center and forms circles. Due to lack of nutrition, the central part of the mycelium dies, but the outermost part continues to bear fruit. Every year the witch's circle increases by 10-15 centimeters. Witches' rings are mentioned in legends and mythology, most often among the Swedes, Scots and Irish. According to the stories about the “elf rings,” forest spirits and elves dance in circles in these places at night.
Fact 6: The issue of cooperation between fungi and other organisms.
In the photo, a common toad sits on a red fly agaric and waits for its lunch. It has been known since the 13th century that the toxic properties of fly agaric put flies to sleep. By the way, this is where the name of the mushroom comes from. In a concave fly agaric hat going rainwater, in which alkaloids dissolve. The flies drink this water and fall asleep. Then they either drown or are eaten by such smart toads.
Fact 7: Glowing mushrooms.
You can even read a book next to some species that shine very brightly.
Panellus stipticus. These fungi often develop mutants without the ability to bioluminescence.
Fact 8: Mushrooms as environmental cleaners.
One of the ways to clean up toxic Wastewater– the use of mushrooms that reduce water pollution. So media artist Jan Moon proposed cleaning up the mouth of Newtown Creek in New York using regular oyster mushrooms.
They are known for their ability to neutralize hydrocarbons that come from petroleum products. Oyster mushrooms also absorb some chemical toxins and heavy metals.
Fact 9: Living mold. Stay alive.
Mold fungi are very tenacious organisms. Where others perish, they flourish. They are everywhere. Mold was discovered at the site of the nuclear reactor explosion in Chernobyl, and it was found in the ice of Antarctica. In 2006, scientists even conducted an experiment and placed 3 capsules with different types mold on the skin of an orbital station in outer space. They were there for 1.5 years. And the mold survived. Moreover, she mutated. She became more stable and aggressive.
Fact 10: Mushrooms are long-lived.
IN forest soils In the United States of America, studies were conducted on an ordinary small honey fungus measuring 3 centimeters in height. It turned out that his mycelium extended over several hectares, and at the same time the weight of this mycelium was 10 tons. And the age is 1500 years. This suggests that the honey fungus under study is one of the oldest and largest organisms on Earth!
We end on this impressive note. These were 10 interesting facts about mushrooms and fungi. In fact, mushrooms are a little-studied topic. So scientists have years of work ahead of them to find out what mystery they keep within themselves.