The Stinkhorn Lattice Mushroom 
You hear the word ‘Fungus’ and immediately think the worst, with afflictions such as ‘Athelete’s Foot’ or ‘Ringworm’ springing to mind, or other insidious images of nasty things appearing on food, walls etc., but the truth is far different from the imagined horrors. The world of the fungus is strange and beautiful, linked to our own in all sorts of ways. The fungus we all most familiar with is the mushroom, and these come in a myriad of shapes and colours, as well as many different uses.
Chicken of the Woods
To begin with, you have to understand that fungi are neither animal nor plant life, but occupy their own particular niche in the natural world. The other main point to bear in mind is that we only ever normally see the fruiting body – the mushroom – of the fungus, as the body is almost always a web of filaments called hyphae, hidden within the food source of the fungus, be that earth, wood, or even insect, plant or animal bodies. The biggest organism on earth is thought to be a ‘Honey Mushroom’ fungus(See image below) which occupies over 2,200 acres of a forest in Oregon, USA.
The Honey Mushroom
Fungi have evolved to use a lot of different items for food. Some are decomposers living on dead organic material like leaves. Some fungi cause diseases by using living organisms for food. These fungi infect plants, animals and even other fungi. Mushrooms are an established part of the human diet, from the most common button variety to the rare and expensive truffle, but fungi other than mushrooms are also essential in the making of cheese, beer, wine, bread and too many other foods to name.
Seashell Fungus
Not only are the fungi vital to food production, but also in medicine . Penicillin,was first discovered as mould in a Petri dish. The Lion’s Mane fungus is widely used in Chinese medicine for treating all kinds of ailments, while the Stumpfungus, also known as Turkey Tail, is reputedly good for boosting the immune system. Drugs That are made from some types of fungus help tostop the rejection of transplanted hearts and other organs, while others combat disease.
Tinder Fungus
Other varieties are grown in large vats, and used to help produce flavorings for cooking, vitamins and enzymes for removing stains. The world of the fungus, and the mushroom, can be as colorful as any rainbow, though not all strikingly attractive mushrooms can be eaten. As beneficial as so many mushrooms prove themselves to be, the fungal world has a darker side, in which certain mushroom varieties are extremely deadly.
Turban Head Mushroom.
People out looking for edible ‘Morel’ mushrooms sometimes pick the ‘Turban Fungus,’ in error. The red-brown cap of this Gyromitra false Morel looks rather like a human brain. Gyromitrin toxin it destroys red blood cells, is toxic to the central nervous system and damages the liver and gastrointestinal tract. The symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, cramps, distention, weakness, lassitude, and headache; if the condition is severe, these may develop into jaundice, convulsions, coma, and death.
The Destroying Angel Mushroom
The ‘Destroying Angel’ mushroom is a deadly poisonous Amanita fungus, found usually on deciduous trees, especially Oak in the UK. This is one of the most poisonous of all known mushroom types, the principal toxic constituent g-arnanitan damages the liver and kidneys, often fatally.
The Death Cap mushroom
The Death Cap, another Amanita variety, accounts for over 90% of fungus-related poisoning deaths in Europe. Known by the ancient Greeks and Romans, It has been used by poisoners for centuries, and still causes tragic and painful deaths every year. So-called ‘Magic Mushrooms’ are the favourites of many people seeking psychogenic experiences, and the best known of these for potency is the Fly Argaric.
The Fly Argaric Mushroom
.jpg)
Ingesting some of these mushrooms will lead to your having a similar experience to that which occurs when you take LSD. Such effects are not immediate, and it can be as much as two hours before the hallicinogens take effect. At thier most potent in the eight to ten hours after that time, these mind-altering chemicals remain active for as long as 16 to 20 hours after ingestion. The more magic mushrooms you have, the more confident and relaxed you feel, thinking yourself hearing colours seeing sounds. Your senses of time and movement are often affected strongly, and you you experience hieghtened emotions.
Reishi Moshrooms
Reishi mushrooms are reputed to be very rare and precious Chinese medicinal fungi, which in earlier centuries only those wealthy enough would ever have had access to. There have been witten references to the medical efficacy of these mushrooms for more than two thousand years, in a book nowadays acknowledged to be the original textbook of Oriental medical science. Reishi was first categorized as a “Superior Medicine (herb) in this volume, and later in the “Chinese Outline of Herbs” from the time of the Ming Dynasty. Reishi has always been ranked the Number One Herb in Chinese medicine.
The Lion’s Mane Fungus
The mysterious, magical, mythical, murderous world of the mushroom is far more fascinating than you may ever have imagined. In this brief summary we have barely scratched the surface of what there is to learn. There are some types of mushroom growing happily in the radioactive hellhole of Chernobyl, while another turns ants into zombies by entering the heads and consuming the brains. Perhaps we will all look at these incredible life-forms in a completely different light, now that we know just how complex they truly are.
Stump Fungus Mushroom
All pictures and information used in this story taken from wikipedia sites including http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laetiporus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clathrus_ruber http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fistulina_hepatica http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hericium_erinaceus http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stumpfungus.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Amanita_virosa_Oberschlei%C3%9Fheim.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Amanita_phalloides_young.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Fomes_fomentarius.jpg http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Amanita_muscaria_(fly_agaric).JPG
Related posts:
Yellowstone Morning Glory Pool
10 Foods That Can Literally Kill You!!!
The Stunning Variety of Spectacular Eyes in Nature
The Wonderfully messy Tomatino Festival, where food fighting is fun.
The Sad Sights at what was New Orleans Six Flags Amusement Park
The Incredibly Beautiful and Haunting Stone Forest of Madagascar
.JPG){kind=link}
