Mushroom Facts

Mushroom Facts

Edible Mushroom-Button Mushroom

Mushrooms are part of a larger group of plants known as fungi. A fungus is different from an ordinary green plant because it can’t make it’s own food. Fungi have been around since prehistoric days. Remains of fungi have been found in dinosaur pits! The Egyptian pharaohs (kings) reserved mushrooms for their own plates. It was forbidden for anyone else to eat them. They believed the mushrooms had magical powers. The ancient Romans fed mushrooms only to their warriors because they believed mushrooms gave them god like strength.


1. Mushrooms and fungi are living organisms which develop from spores, rather than seeds. A spore is a microscopic, single-celled structure.

2. Unlike plants, mushrooms and fungi can’t make their own food through photosynthesis because they don’t contain chlorophyll. Instead, fungi produce an enzyme which breaks down complex molecules into smaller, simpler ones which can be absorbed by the fungi. 

3. Fungi occupy most habitats, from rainforest to desert. They grow in soil and on dung, on non-living organic material such as bread, and on and inside dead plants and animals as parasites. Fungi are also found in both fresh and salt water environments.

4. Some diseases, such as ringworm, thrush and athletes’ foot are also forms of fungi.

5. There is no difference between a mushroom and a toadstool. They are the same thing! Popular culture tends to refer to edible species of fungi as ‘Mushrooms’ and nonedible species as ‘Toadstools’, but ‘Fungus’ or ‘Fungi’ is the more scientifically-accurate term to describe both!

6. There are many ‘look-alikes’ in the mushroom kingdom. Unless you are an expert, don’t eat anything you can’t positively identify with 100% certainty. For instance, some specimens of Death Cap Mushroom (Amanita phalloides) look almost-identical to the edible Paddy Straw Mushroom (Volvariella volvacea).

7. Fungi can be unpredictable in their effects. Some people will have an allergic reaction to a particular species of fungus, while others will experience no ill effects. Other people have a severe allergic reaction to Oyster Mushroom spores, causing a condition known as ‘Mushroom Lung’.

8. Some species, such as the Common Roll rim (Paxillus involutus) have a toxic effect which only becomes apparent years after consumption. 

9. There are over 3,000 types of edible mushrooms available in the world. The most common Western mushroom is the white capped ‘button’ mushroom.

10. Fungi are very good at absorbing toxins. This makes them great as natural cleaners of toxic waste, but means that mushrooms picked from the sides of roads, close to chemical sprays or vehicle exhaust, should never be eaten.

11. Fungi reproduce by way of single-celled spores released into the atmosphere. Most fungi produce spores within the gills on the underside of the cap and rely on the breeze to carry away the spores. 

Remember, pick your mushrooms in the store!