The main reason mushrooms and other fungi are not considered plants is that fungi are more closely related to animals than they are to plants. Plants reproduce by making seeds, like the sunflower does. It is similar to that found in plant cells, though the plant cell wall contains the polysaccharide cellulose. Summary Not all mushrooms have a cup. By the time a mushroom emerges above ground, the fungus has usually been feeding in place for some time. Fungi send out specialized tendrils, or hyphae, into the soil and plants around them to expose a maximum of surface area to the surrounding environment. About 6,000 people suffer mushroom poisoning every year in the US, but most only experience mild symptoms. Of the more than 10,000 mushroom species, 50–100 are poisonous to humans. Lookalike mushrooms can fool you. Mushrooms grow from spores, not seeds, and a single mature mushroom will drop as many as 16 billion spores! The basal cup is the remnant of the button (the rounded, undeveloped mushroom before the fruiting body appears). 3.Specialized structures for reproduction: fruiting body, A mushroom is a fruiting body, which is the part of the fungus that produces spores. Mushrooms vary by region. Thousands of microscopic spores are right underneath the cap, or top part, of the mushroom. Some, however, die from mushroom toxicity. Many poisonous mushrooms have a lookalike. Mushrooms reproduce by producing spores. The Parts of a fungus Can be divided into volva, stipe, hymenium, pileo and internal parts. Saprophytes grow on dead organic matter such as fallen leaves, plant roots and dead wood. Identifying a mushroom in one part of the country or another country is not reliable for identifying mushrooms in another area. They are located in the gills, which are the lines you can see underneath the cap. 2.Hyphae: These are thread-like strands which interconnect and bunch up into a mycelium. Cup (Volva) - A cup-shaped structure at the base of the mushroom. They extract carbon dioxide and minerals from it. Mushrooms are usually recognized by their fruiting bodies, which is the part that we see with our naked eye; however, most of the magic occurs under the surface or at a cellular level with the mycelium. Based on their relationship with plants, fungi can be roughly divided into three categories: 1. The part of the fungus that we see is only the “fruit” of the organism. Cooking does not necessarily make a mushroom safe to eat. Mushrooms: Fungus With a Purpose When people hear the word mushroom they think of its plant variety: fungi, and when they hear "fungi" they often think of one particular kind of fungi: mold (particularly white powdery mold and yellow/brown downy mold). A fungus or mushroom is a large eukaryotic organism with a fruit structure that can grow above or below the earth, having a different classification for each case. 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