Mushrooms, the most widespread and multi-species group of living organisms on the planet, allocated to a separate kingdom. We will plunge into this mysterious world and present the most interesting facts about mushrooms.
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First mention
One of the first who scientifically approached the study of these living organisms was the student and friend of the famous Aristotle, the philosopher-encyclopedist Theophast in the III century BC. The Roman writer and historian Pliny the Elder, who continued his work, in the 1st century AD divided them into two large groups, which are still used today - edible and inedible.
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Theology Problem
Karl Linnaeus in the XIX century proposed to bring them into a separate class of wildlife, but only in 1969, mushrooms were excluded from the plant world, and separated into a separate kingdom. And here a theological problem arises, because according to the Bible, God created the plants on the third day. The churchmen had a natural question, when, then, did they appear on earth?
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Mushroom cities
Let us turn to the texts of the ancient Greek legend and the lines of the Roman poet Ovid. According to one legend, Perseus founded Mycenae in a place where he discovered an unusual kind of mushroom, which in Greek sounds like “mykos”. Hence the name of the policy and science - mycology.
Ovid writes that the inhabitants of Corinth are descendants of a mortal tribe that gave rise to rain mushrooms.
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Species diversity
Mushrooms belong to a separate natural community, and there are so many of them that scientists still do not know exactly how many species of mushrooms exist on the planet. To date, mycologists say that there are from 100 to 250 thousand, and according to some reports, about 2.5 million. But before they were attributed to lower plants.
Be sure to look at most-beauty.ru an interesting article about the most beautiful mushrooms.
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Plant or animal
The first argument why mushrooms cannot be considered plants is the method of nutrition. Mushrooms are heterotrophs, and plants receive nutrients through photosynthesis.
So, according to the type of food, mushrooms are similar to animals. The structure of the cell also brings them closer to animals. In fungi, binuclear cells, but in contrast to animals, they hardened, while in representatives of the fauna they remained elastic.
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Fruit or vegetable
Immediately highlight another exciting question, mushrooms are vegetables or fruits. The answer is given by nature itself, harmoniously placing mushrooms somewhere in the middle between plants and animals.
In the diversity of wildlife, they constitute a separate kingdom, so it is neither a vegetable nor a fruit, nor an animal, nor a plant.
Nature has many quirks, there are mushrooms and plants very similar to parts of the human body. Read about it on most-beauty.ru fascinating article.
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Nutrition
By the method of nutrition, mushrooms are saprotrophs and symbionts. The former absorb micronutrients from the forest litter, feeding on the basis of dead plant residues.
The second receive organic matter from the roots of trees, entering into symbiosis with them. A peculiar mycorrhiza forms, or, as they call it, fungus root. The mushroom supplies the tree in such a symbiosis with water with minerals dissolved in it.
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Icebergs of Wildlife
They consist of mycelium, in a science called mycelium, and the fruiting body. The mushroom picker, most of which is hidden underground, can spread over vast distances. And the body that we see above the surface of the earth is a fruit intended for the process of reproduction.
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Unusual abilities
Remarkably, there are species in which different parts of the body have different abilities and a set of microelements. Most mushrooms produce a vitamin D. One condition is the presence of the sun, so that they, like humans, can sunbathe.
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Ladies and Gentlemen
Nature created female and male individuals of mushrooms. This fact was proved by examining their DNA, the structure of which is very similar to the sex chromosomes of people.
Thus, adults can give birth to common offspring. But not all species have this phenomenon. They evolve, and what will be the final result of such a development can only be guessed at.
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Growth rate
Mushroom pickers of the Russian forests know about Veselka, which is part of the Gasteromycetes group. So it grows with the speed of bamboo, growing in 2 minutes by 1 centimeter.
This ability allowed the inhabitant of Russian forests with such an intriguing title to get into the Guinness Book of Records.
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Interesting statistics
Russians, like other nations, love mushrooms, and more than half of the inhabitants of Russia collect them on their own. One in five trusts the markets and buys them on market shelves, while 16% buy them in stores. There is a category that has never tried this gift of nature, and among Russians, 14%.
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In a fairy tale
We have already talked about legends, but in Russian folklore there is a folk tale called “The War of the Mushrooms,” which has come down to us in the literary treatment of Alexei Tolstoy.
It is not known what served as the basis for such a plot, but almost all of the mushrooms did not want to fight. Only the lovers happily went to war.
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For courage
Continuing the theme of the war, we will tell you that the Scandinavian Vikings, before joining the battle, ate mushrooms. Under the influence of drugs such warriors did not know fear, because it was not for nothing that these fearless Vikings were afraid of all of Europe.
But the shamans of many nationalities eat them to fall into a trance. In this state, the priests conduct religious rites and the sacrament of consecration.
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They are everywhere
The amazing creation of nature dwells almost everywhere, and even on the panels of the ISS flying in orbit of the Earth. Microscopic species are also found among the ice-snow silence of the Antarctic.
To detect their spores can be found in any room, only by taking samples. In matters of reproduction, they are champions, throwing millions of spores into the air. The leader here is a raincoat mushroom that throws out 7 trillion spores.
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In heraldry
Mushrooms are a natural non-heraldic figure, and have a unified interpretation. They are depicted on the coats of arms in a stylized way, often without specifying a specific view.
They are mainly used in the arms of small urban settlements and small noble families. They are decorated with coats of arms of the Czech town of Vrsovice, the French commune of Billy-sur-En. In Russia, they flaunt on the coat of arms of the Sunsky district of the Kirov region.
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Museums
Such an amazing creation was honored with its museums. The most famous Mushroom Museum is located in the city of Zagreb, located on the main square of the Croatian capital.
There are similar museums in France, Taiwan and Greece. There is a project to create a mushroom museum in Ryazan, and so far there is a beautiful monument in the form of a mushroom with eyes, installed in 2013.
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Life saving
Many mushrooms have become the basis for the creation of medications that treat various diseases.
But the most famous, of course, is penicillin, discovered at the beginning of the twentieth century.
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Largest living creature
Dark honey agaric, whose mycelium has grown on an area of 900 hectares, is the largest living organism on the planet. It grows in the US state of Oregon.
In another state of Wisconsin in 1985, the largest mushroom was discovered, whose weight was 140 kg and the diameter of the cap was more than two meters.
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Hallucinogens
Many species are classified as hallucinogenic. The substances contained in them cause a state of euphoria, visual and auditory hallucinations. Lost temporal and spatial orientation, a sense of reality.
Such abilities are used by sorcerers and shamans. But in many countries, hallucinogens are classified as narcotic substances, and their cultivation and sale is prohibited by law.
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In cooking
Mushrooms from ancient times entered the human diet, and most countries have developed their own traditions of using this product. Truffle is generally considered the most exquisite delicacy, and costs a lot of money.
Mushrooms are generally cooked, or used as an ingredient in other dishes. But there are people who ask if mushrooms can be eaten raw. The answer is yes. These include most of the truffle family, champignon, oyster mushrooms. Boletus edulis growing in the vastness of Russia can also be eaten raw.
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The oldest
Mushrooms, as biologists and paleontologists have discovered, are the oldest inhabitants of our planet. They appeared long before the first living creatures on earth.
Next to them ferns, also one of the oldest plants, grew. But they significantly decreased in size, and mushrooms, in the course of evolution, adapted to new conditions, preserving species diversity.
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The most tenacious
Easily adapt to extreme conditions. Vitality is proved by the fact that it is quite difficult to remove the fungus that hit the living room.
They withstand pressure of 8 atmospheres, at an altitude of 30 thousand meters, they are resistant to radiation, and can grow unsuitable for other sulfuric acid. The environment is diverse, because mushrooms grow even at an altitude of 30 thousand meters from the surface of the earth.
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Heroes of legends, fairy tales and traditions
Mushrooms are frequent characters in fairy tales of the peoples of the world, legends and legends. Everyone has a different purpose. The fungus-lesovichok helps a person to get out of the forest, and it is better to bypass the witch mushroom.
According to ancient legends, they can show where treasures are hidden in the forest, or they can destroy. If a woman dreamed of mushrooms, this meant an early pregnancy, but when a man, he needed to be more careful in dealing with the weaker sex.
Conclusion
We learned how fungi differ from plants, and why they are closer to animals. They are widely used in various fields of science, medicine, and edible are included in the dishes of many national cuisines of the world. Now we also know what groups mushrooms are divided into, what they eat, and where they live.
Article author: Valery Skiba