A Complete Guide on Mushrooms | Definition, Characteristics, Species, & Facts
Everything you need to know about mushrooms, from everyday types to safe foraging basics. Mushrooms are easy to overlook. We see them sliced on pizzas, packed into grocery-store cartons, or popping up overnight after rain, but most of us don’t stop to think about what they actually are. This guide explains mushrooms in plain language, without scientific overload, so you can understand how they grow, where they come from, and why they’re important. What Are Mushrooms? Mushrooms belong to the fungi kingdom, which puts them in a category of their own. They aren’t plants, and they aren’t animals. Unlike plants, they don’t use sunlight to make food. Instead, they survive by breaking down organic material around them and absorbing nutrients from it. What we call a “mushroom” is only part of the organism. The real body lives hidden underground (or inside wood) as a vast web of tiny threads called mycelium. This network can spread far and wide, sometimes covering acres. When conditions are ri...