Fungi of Southern Africa & South Africa:
The Fungi Kingdom
Mycology: (mai-ko-la-gee) - the scientific study of fungi.
Mushrooms and Fungi have always been regarded with a touch of scepticism,
not until fairly recently did we understand the full complexities
of how and why fungi form. For centuries people believed that toadstools
were considered poisonous and mushrooms were edible, they believed
that these fungi were associated with the breath of snakes, or
if growing near rusted iron or dirty rags they were sure to be
poisonous. There are scores of false beliefs that cast a negative
shadow over these humble life forms, and perhaps due to the nature
of their ability to appear and disappear overnight, particularly
after rains, people could not understand their role in nature.
Their role however is vital. They are one of the largest contributors
of the decomposition of organic matter, returning nutrients to
the soil, which in turn is utilised to sustain other species of
flora and fauna. The majority of the fungi cannot be seen with
the naked eye, and needs to be viewed with a lens or microscope.
Our most common association with mushrooms are those we use for
the dinner table, these and other edible and non-edible mushrooms
are referred to as "fruit-bodies". This is the common
name given to the organism that seems to pop-up out of the ground
for no apparent reason.
Or so we thought. The production unit of all fungi is known as
the "spore". When this spore lands on a suitable substrate
or base, and growth conditions are ideal, it will germinate by
sending out a germ tube which becomes attached to the base or substrate.
This tube develops in to the "hyphae", which in turn
will expand and develop into a network of hyphal threads, known
as "mycelium". This mycelium is the vegetative body of
the fungus responsible for its nutrition and formation. The mycelium
will continue to grow and branch throughout the substrate for as
long as it can obtain nutrients from it, and conditions of temperature
and moisture remain favourable. This mycelium may continue to grow
for a long time without forming any sex organs, but once two sexually
differentiated mycelia meet, and plasmas of conjugating cells unite,
if external conditions are ideal, a "fruit-body" will
appear.
Mushrooms belong neither to the animal nor plant kingdom, but form
a phylum all on their own. This is due to the fact that unlike
plants, fungi are unable to produce their own food through photosynthesis,
as they lack chlorophyll, but resemble animals in their ability
to draw their sustenance from animal and plant matter which is
dissolved by enzymes and ingested. Current estimates put the number
of species in the fungal kingdom at approximately 1.5 million,
in comparison with, for example, flowering plants at 250,000 species.
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