MUSHROONS, FUNGI, LICHEN, MOULDS & SLIME MOULDS
Helen Keating writing on the Woodland Trust website shocks us into this amazing subject : Fungi are a huge and fascinating kingdom with over 15,000 species in the UK. They live on land, in the water, in the air, and even in and on plants and animals. They vary widely in size and form, from the microscopically small to the largest organisms on Earth (at several square miles large).
We find mushrooms and other fungi all over the place. With such vast variety it is not surprising that we cannot identify them all, but the following may help.
Food
OK, obviously you can eat mushrooms. But how aware are you of how much fungi contribute to our food?
- Bread : yeast is used to leaven bread which makes it rise and develop flavour during fermentation.
- Cheeses : some such as Roquefort are made using moulds such as Penicillium roqueforti to produce the best flavours.
- Soy source : This is brewed using bacteria and fungi which give its it specific flavour.
- Tempeh and Miso (fermented soy beans ) : these are produced with certin fungi
- Quorn : this popular meat substitute is made from fungus.
- Beer and to some extent wines, rquire yeast for fermentation
Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom. [Wiki]
Quorn is essentially a protein made out of fungus. This type of protein is called a mycoprotein and it is derived from fusarium venenatum fungus which is basically a type of mould. Some people incorrectly refer to this fungus as a mushroom, but it’s not a mushroom at all. [Be Healthy Now website]
Other products
Using fungi as food is just what we are more familiar with. Merlin Sheldrake in his book referenced below describes how this is is only the tip of ever expanding opportunities. The following comes from various online sources.
- Sustainable packaging using mycelium-based materials which are biodegradable and can replace traditional plastic usage.
- Construction materials using fungal mycelium can be used to make bricks and insulation
- Textiles using mycelium can be natural alternatives to synthetic textiles
- Natural pigments can be made from some fungi and used in cosmetics and food
These applications showcase the versatility of fungi in creating sustainable products across various industries.
"Picture Mushroom" as per the link below provides an online mushroom identification from photos.
An excelllent reference book is Mushrooms of Britain and Northern Europe by Josephine Bacon. There are clear references to which are edible and which are poisonous (although we reiterate check with an expert). See references at the end.
The key difference between fungi and lichen is that fungi are simple heterotrophic organisms while lichen is a composite symbiotic organism that forms from algae or cyanobacteria living among filaments of multiple fungi species. They are a lot more than simply mould and mystique. There is a lot more to each of these. If you want to learn more, have a look at the links below.
The more you look at mushrooms, the more amazing they appear. They are so much more than pretty forms found on a log or forest floor.
- Spore Dispersal by wind, water or animals and followed by a period of dormancy before germination
- They develop into thread-like structures called hyphae which become networks known as mycelium
- They mature into hyphal knots
- Eventually becoming fruiting bodies visible as mushrooms.
This is further described by Mycologist Paul Stamets of Host Defence - Mushrooms from which this diagram comes. See the link below.
This diagram comes from Host Defence - Mushrooms as link below.
You will often come across small nodules of mushrooms. It is evident from what you see above that these were simply the full mushrooms forming and will only be identifiable once further developed.
Of particular note is a book by Merlin Sheldrake entitled ENTANGLED LIFE. It shows how extraordinary they are. A quote from his website lures us closer.
When we think of fungi, we probably think of mushrooms. But mushrooms are only fruiting bodies, analogous to apples on a tree. Most fungi live out of sight, yet make up a massively diverse kingdom of organisms that support and sustain nearly all living systems. The more we learn about fungi, the less makes sense without them.
Sheldrake’s mind-bending journey into this hidden world ranges from yeast to psychedelics, to the fungi that sprawl for miles underground and are the largest organisms on the planet, to those that make all plant life possible, to those that infiltrate and manipulate insect bodies with devastating precision.
A mushroom is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or another food source. [Wiki]
If you thought that it was as simple as that, you are in for a shock. But when you are introduced to the world of mushrooms by Sheldrake you find even much more amazing aspects about them. How do mycellia explore and decide where to expland their labyrinths? Where to rise up as mushrooms to disperse their spores?
Something that becomes apparent when trying to identify all these as an amateur is that there can be variations in form and colour within species and this confuses the experts too.
LICHEN
The British Lichen Society explains : A lichen is not a single organism; it is a stable symbiotic association between a fungus and algae and/or cyanobacteria.
Like all fungi, lichen fungi require carbon as a food source; this is provided by their symbiotic algae and/or cyanobacteria, that are photosynthetic.
The lichen symbiosis is thought to be a mutualism, since both the fungi and the photosynthetic partners, called photobionts, benefit.
MOULDS
Also see MOULDS
When we delve further we find that there are also moulds and slime moulds.
Such subjects are certainly connected, but there are differences.
- KINGDOM CLASSIFICATION - Moulds are classified under the kingdom Fungi, while Slime Moulds are belong to the kingdom Protista
- STRUCTURE - moulds are primarily multicellular organisms with a cell wall made of chitin, whereas slime moulds can exist as single-celled amoebas or aggregate to form multicellular structures called plasmodia
- FEEDING AND MOVEMENT - moulds obtaine nutrients by absorbing organic matter, while slime moulds feed by engulfing bacteria and other microorganisms
- REPRODUCTION =Moulds reproduce through spores, while slime moulds can reproduce both sexually and asexualy, often through spore formation
- HABITAT -Moulds are typically found in various habitats, while slime moulds are often found in moist environments, such as decaying wood and leat matter.
Do not attempt to eat them without absolute assurance of accurate identifification. Many are posionous.
ATLAS SPORES : https://atlasspores.academy/educational-content/beginner-guides/mushroom-life-cycle-explained-from-spore-to-mushroom/
BACON, JOSEPHINE, Mushrooms of Britain and Northern Europe: John Beaufoy Publishing. 2012. ISBN 978-1-906780-60-9. An excellent identification reference.
BE HEALTHY NOW website : https://www.behealthynow.co.uk/nutrition/is-quorn-healthy/#:~:text=Quorn%20is%20essentially%20a%20protein%20made%20out%20of,mushroom%2C%20but%20it%E2%80%99s%20not%20a%20mushroom%20at%20all.
BRITISH LICHEN SOCIETY : https://byjus.com/biology/difference-between-fungi-and-lichens/
BACON, JOSEPHINE. Idendtification of MUSHROOMS of RITAIN and EUROPE. John Beaufoy Publishing. 2012. ISBN 978-1-B906780-00-9
BYJUS : This has a handy comparison table : https://byjus.com/biology/difference-between-fungi-and-lichens/
HOST DEFENCE MUSHROOMS : https://hostdefense.com/blogs/host-defense-blog/the-mushroom-lifecycle
MUSHROOM DIARY : A very good overview on mushroom identification : https://www.mushroomdiary.co.uk/mushroom-identification/
SHELDRAKE, MERLIN : Entangled Life. How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds, and Shape Our Futures. Vintage Publishing. 2020. ISBN 9781784708276. https://www.merlinsheldrake.com/entangled-life
VENDATU : https://www.vedantu.com/biology/difference-between-fungi-and-lichens
WILDFOOD UK : An excellent and comprehensive identification list : https://www.wildfooduk.com/mushroom-guide/
WIKIPEDIA : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mushroom
WOODLAND TRUST : https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/fungi-and-lichens/
and https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/trees-woods-and-wildlife/fungi-and-lichens/ a good identity reference.
