DK - Humongous Fungus: The weird and wonderful Kingdom of Fungi

Wri tte n by Lynne Boddy Illus trate d by Wenji a Ta ng

The fun gus k ingdom The gr eening of th e eart h Nature s help ers A spore s journ ey Growing mushr ooms How do es a fung us fe ed? Fungu s wars Mushroom fore st Sac fung i Edibl e or pois onous Fai ryta le fun gi Lichens Bright , da rk, or g lowin g Plant partne rs Plant kille rs Fungal food Writt en by Lynne Boddy Illustr ated b y Wenjia Ta ng Editor Kat T ee ce Designer Bett ina Mykl ebust S tovne US Edito r Mindy Ficht er US Senior Edito r Shannon Be att y Managing E ditor Jonathan Melmoth Managing Ar t E ditor Diane P eyt on Jones Product ion Ed itor Dragana Puv acic Product ion Con troller Barbara Osso wska Project Pict ure R esearcher Saks hi Saluja Creative Direct or Helen Senior Publishing Direct or Sarah Lar te r

Eco-f rien dly fungi Animal frien ds Animal killer s Mushroom mind c ontrol Inside us Medicine maker s Amazin g che mists Home in vaders Floati ng fun gi Humongous fungus Climate chang e Saving the f utur e Glossary Index Acknowl edgme nts First Am erican Edition, 2021 Publ ished in the United States by DK Pub lishing 1450 Broadway , Su ite 801, New Y or k, NY 10018 Copyright 2021 Dorling Kindersley Limited DK, a Div ision of P en guin Random House LLC 19 20 21 22 23 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 001321128Jul/2021 All rights re served. Without limiting the rights under the copyright r eserved above, no part of this publ ication may be re produced, stored in or int roduced int o a retrieval system, or transmitted, in a ny form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recordi ng, or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the copyright owner . Publ ished in Grea t Britain by Dorling Kindersley Limited A catalog r ecord for this book is available from the Libr ary of Co ngress. ISBN 978-0-7440-3333-5 DK books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk for sales pr omotions, pre miums, fund-raising, or e ducational use. For details, contact: DK P ubl ishing Special Markets, 1450 Broadway , Su ite 801, New Y or k, NY 10018 SpecialSales@dk.com Prin ted and bound in China www.dk.com This b ook w as ma de wi th F orest Stewardship Council cer ti ed pa per one small st ep in DKs c ommitment to a su stain able f uture. For more info rmation go to www. dk.com/ ou r-g reen-pledge

Mu shr ooms These a re the fruit bodie s of s ome fungi. They make spore s, wh ich grow i nto new fungi . The body of the fungu s is th e my celiu m, made o f a n etwork of thr eadlike structur es, call ed h ypha e. Ye ast s The bodi es of some fungi a re singl e ce lls, c alled y easts. Some fungi c an hav e bodie s that are hypha e or yeasts. These can switch betw een y easts or hy phae. The vast f ungus kingd om has ar ound four millio n specie sor mayb e even more. That s ten ti mes more f ungi than pla nts, and 60 0 ti mes more fungi th an mammals . Here are the main fungus type s. W h e n w e t h i n k o f f u n g i w e u s u a l l y t h i n k o f m u s h r o o m s , b u t t h e r e a r e m a n y m o r e t y p e s . B l u e r o u n d h e a d f u n g u s Hyphae

Sac fung i Like m ushr oom fu ngi, the main bod y of a sac fun gus i s the my celiu m. Som e ha ve frui t bodies, wh ich are lar ge en ough to see wit hout a mic roscope. These contai n man y e ight-s pore s acs. Molds Molds are a l ot o f diffe rent fungi that ro t fo od and o ther things. Thei r hypha e ma ke the surfa ce the y are rotting loo k fuzz y . The re a re a l ot o f spores o n the ends of h ypha e. Aqu ati c fung i Microsco pic chyt rid f ungi l ive in wet pl aces. H yphae grow into pl ant or anim al ce lls to f eed. Th eir spores can swim t o ne w fo od. Some mol ds ar e s ac fungi. They mak e cha ins of sp ore s on th e end of a h ypha , inst ea d of ins id e a fr uit body . Clumps of pi n mold spor es loo k lik e bl ack dots on bre ad or fr uit . F u n g i l o o k a l i t t l e l i k e p l a n t s , b u t t h e y a r e m o r e c l o s e l y r e l a t e d t o h u m a n s ! B l a c k t u l i p f u n g u s Plan t cel ls are the ti ny build ing bloc ks of pl an ts. The hy phae grow in the foo d. F o o d s u r f a c e

Wate rbound pl an ts At fir st, a ll life was i n the wate r. Plant s ta ke in n utr ient s to keep them h ealt hy , and th e nu trie nts were d issolv ed in th e wat er. On lan d, nutri ents were in rock an d you ng soil, and v ery hard to g et. Earl y l an d pl an t s 500 mi llion y ears ag o tiny plant s, suc h as mo sses and liverw orts, began to move ont o land. But they had no r oots to take in nu tri ents and wa ter, so they t eame d up wit h fung i... Swapp ing food Plants can ma ke en ergy foods but f ungi c annot . Fu ngi ca n absorb nut rient s and wate r from so il, u nlike m any pla nts. So, t he two link up and sw ap food, nut rient s, an d wat er. Fun gus hyp hae con nect ed with earl y lan d plan ts. The Earth s earl y l andscapes were bare and rocky . The only plan ts wer e in water . F ungi he lped plant s move onto l and, and to grow upward into the trees you see to day.

Modern pla nt s Plant s use s unlig ht energy to m ake sugars for f ood. Animals cannot make t heir o wn food, so the y eat pl ant s or other animals. Bette r t og ether All tre es, and most othe r plant s, st ill dep end on fungal partne rs atta ched to th eir roots . Pla nts are animal f ood an d ke ep our ecosy stems thriv ing. Fungi keep pl ants goin g! The pla nt gives the fungu s su gars . The fung us giv es t he plan t wate r and nu trie nt s from so il or ro ck. P l a n t s p r o d u c e o x y g e n , w h i c h a n i m a l s n e e d t o b r e a t h e t o s u r v i v e . W i t h f u n g i W i t h o u t f u n g i

Without fungi, the ecosyst ems that thriv e on land wo uld not work. Fungi provide food fo r plants and anima ls, create place s for th em to live, and ge t rid of dea d things. Animal food The fru it bodie s of f ungi , su ch as mushroo ms, ar e foo d for many animals. Insects eat hy phae too , and som e ev en gr ow fun gi f or fo od. Ins ec t homes Woo d rot ted b y fung i inside old trees i s hom e to thousand s of i nsects. Here, the cr eepy crawl ies c an eat the n utr iti ous f ungus . Pl an t food Fungi feed m ost o f ou r pl ants . The ir hyph ae g row i nto fine p lant root s. They take up wate r and nu trie nts from t he so il, a nd f eed i t to t he ro ots. C o m m o n p u f f b a l l F l y a g a r i c Latticed stinkhorn Chicken of the woods Hyphae