fungus

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References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images & Videos

panther cap mushroom

Podostroma cornu-damae

Are fungi plants?

porcini mushroom

Observe the importance of a mushroom's mycelium in the decomposition of organic matter

For Students

Bracket fungus (Polyporus) growing on wood.

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The saprobe Panellus Stipticus displaying bioluminescence Panellus Stipticus Aug 12, 2009. Bioluminescent fungi. aka bitter oyster, astringent panus, luminescent panellus, stiptic fungus. fungus in the family Mycenaceae

Everything’s Illuminated: 6 Bioluminescent Organisms

Discover

Two chicks near an egg with a white background (poultry, chick, chickens, birds).

What Do Eggs Have to Do with Easter?

Vietnam War. U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson awards the Distinguished Service Cross to First Lieutenant Marty A. Hammer, during a visit to military personnel, Cam Ranh Bay, South Vietnam, October 26, 1966. President Johnson

Vietnam War Timeline

Mona Lisa, oil on wood panel by Leonardo da Vinci, c. 1503-06; in the Louvre, Paris, France. 77 x 53 cm.

Why Is the Mona Lisa So Famous?

Coffee beans after roasting.

How Is Coffee Decaffeinated?

Still from the film Deliverance, 1919. The story of Helen Keller and Anne Sullivan. View shows Keller in the cockpit/front seat of an airplane.

How Did Helen Keller Fly a Plane?

Queen Elizabeth II addresses at opening of Parliament. (Date unknown on photo, but may be 1958, the first time the opening of Parliament was filmed.)

All 119 References in “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” Explained

Aphrodite. Greek mythology. Sculpture. Aphrodite is the Greek goddess of love and beauty.

12 Greek Gods and Goddesses

fungus: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	fungi • Fungi

Photos and Videos

panther cap mushroom

Podostroma cornu-damae

porcini mushroom

Are fungi plants?

Observe the importance of a mushroom's mycelium in the decomposition of organic matter

Do mushrooms need sunlight?

Know about the role of fungi in the forest ecosystem, where some digest plant matter, while others team with the plant (mycorrhizal) mutually

Discover how hat-thrower fungi species fling sporangia to be consumed by grazing cows and horses

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Topics

Lactarius deliciosus portobello mushroom psilocybin mushroom mushroom truffle lichen slime mold Ascomycota yeast Basidiomycota plant animal protist moneran bacteria biology virus taxonomy endangered species plankton

Dig Deeper: More Articles That Discuss This Topic

Key People

Albert Francis Blakeslee

American botanist

Ferdinand Cohn

Ferdinand Cohn

German botanist

Hooker, Sir William Jackson

Sir William Jackson Hooker

British botanist

Bernard Ogilvie Dodge

American botanist

Heinrich Anton de Bary

German botanist

Elias Fries

Elias Fries

Swedish botanist

Robert Almer Harper

Robert Almer Harper

American biologist

J.C. Arthur

American botanist

Farlow

William Gilson Farlow

American botanist

Dillenius, detail from an engraving by James Heath after an original portrait by an unknown artist

Johann Jakob Dillenius

German botanist

Quiz

Mushrooms growing in forest. (vegetable; fungus; mushroom; macrofungi; epigeous)

Science at Random Quiz

Model of a molecule. Atom, Biology, Molecular Structure, Science, Science and Technology. Homepage 2010 arts and entertainment, history and society

Science Quiz

List

The saprobe Panellus Stipticus displaying bioluminescence Panellus Stipticus Aug 12, 2009. Bioluminescent fungi. aka bitter oyster, astringent panus, luminescent panellus, stiptic fungus. fungus in the family Mycenaceae

Everything’s Illuminated: 6 Bioluminescent Organisms