Mushrooms
MUSHROOMS
Those who speak of mushrooms usually mean the higher species that grow in forest and meadows. With their microscopic kinsmen, the large fungi have one thing in common, the dependence on a specific milieu. Since they know no photosynthesis, they must feed on rotting animal or plant residues from their immediate environment. They act as so-called saprophytes (fauna) in their decomposition. Most fungi require oxygen for growth, but few species can convert their metabolism to fermentation and gain the necessary energy. Some eventually live as parasites on plants or animals or go symbioses with their host organisms, in many cases with trees. Mushrooms love a humid-warm climate, hardly need sunlight, and are spread all over the world, even in fresh and salt water as well as near the poles.
Mushrooms vary in shape and color and sometimes take on fantastic shapes. Strictly speaking, however, they are not the actual mushroom plants, but their superficially sprouting fruit bodies. The "heart" of the fungus, vegetation body, or mycelium is a net-like, loosely woven braid from whitish-shimmering to colorless hyphae that conceal themselves under the earth. If you collect mushrooms, carefully cut them with the knife close to the ground and do not cut them out with the root so as not to destroy the whole plant with the mycelium.
By the way, without the constant cleaning up of the mushrooms, our forest would not exist at all. After only a few years, it would suffocate itself.
Mushrooms vary in shape and color and sometimes take on fantastic shapes. Strictly speaking, however, they are not the actual mushroom plants, but their superficially sprouting fruit bodies. The "heart" of the fungus, vegetation body, or mycelium is a net-like, loosely woven braid from whitish-shimmering to colorless hyphae that conceal themselves under the earth. If you collect mushrooms, carefully cut them with the knife close to the ground and do not cut them out with the root so as not to destroy the whole plant with the mycelium.
By the way, without the constant cleaning up of the mushrooms, our forest would not exist at all. After only a few years, it would suffocate itself.
Pictures of Fungis
The following photo collections should not serve as a fungal determination. There are wonderful sites on the Internet (and of course many books) on the subject. I try to photograph the mushrooms in an artistic way. You can see the results here. I have sorted the photo folders according to the occurrence of the mushrooms or special mushrooms. If you want to see more interesting pictures from the world of mushrooms, click here MORE MUSHROOMS
to continue.
FLY AGARIC
Amanita muscaria, commonly known as the fly agaric or fly amanita, is a basidiomycete of the genus Amanita. It is also a muscimol mushroom. Siberian shamans believe that the toadstool arises from the saliva of the highest god. The ancient Teutons believed that where drool drooled from the horse of their god Wotan, mushrooms would develop. Hence the name Rabenbrot, because Hugin and Munin, the thought and the memory, were the two ravens that accompanied Wotan and Odin.Some scholars of religion consider the toadstool to be the fabulous soma in the Vedic texts of ancient Indian culture. Soma was considered necessary for all important rituals, because it made people like gods intoxicated. The Aryan tribes presumably brought the toadstool into the Indus valley 3,500 years ago. Toadstool poisoning can lead to serious health problems, but only in very rare cases can it lead to death. The fungal nerve poison is particularly dangerous for people with severe cardiovascular diseases, but the risk of poisoning remains high. Therefore, this mushroom completely disappeared from the menu in Germany. And it is strongly advised not to try it yourself.
EARTHSTARS
I only rarely see a particularly rare genus of mushrooms, the earth stars, on my hikes. The earth stars, of which there are about a dozen different species in Germany - around 50 species have been identified all over the world, are rather strange phenomena among the higher mushrooms. They are all characterized by beauty and grace and have a flower-like appearance due to their star-like, split outer shell. They are relatives of the Boviste. Erdstern, Latin for Geastrum, is a genus of pericardium in which the outer wall tears open in a star shape and rolls up when it is dry. They are not suitable for consumption.
LIKE UNDERWATER CORALS
Here I would like to introduce you to mushrooms that look like they come from another world. From the ocean. For me, these coral mushrooms, and other species, look like stone corals, sea urchins, sponges or soft corals. I created this photo collection from an aesthetic point of view, not a scientific one.
MUSHROOMS ON WOOD
Mushrooms play an important role in our ecosystem.
Many trees live together with mushrooms (in symbiosis), they favor each other and provide each other with nutrients. The tree gives sugar to the mushrooms and the mushrooms give nitrogen and phosphorus from the soil to the tree. These are the so-called mycorrhizal fungi, and fungal diseases on trees are caused by wood-destroying fungi. These can split and absorb the components of the wood through very specific enzymes in the fungal threads. If you look closely, you can discover them: Mushrooms that grow on dead wood do so in a wide variety of colors and shapes and thus become a unique work of art. Dead wood is an optimal breeding ground for mushrooms. Sometimes they are flat, sometimes round, sometimes there are many and sometimes only one - if you keep your eyes open, you can admire their beauty in the forest.
Many trees live together with mushrooms (in symbiosis), they favor each other and provide each other with nutrients. The tree gives sugar to the mushrooms and the mushrooms give nitrogen and phosphorus from the soil to the tree. These are the so-called mycorrhizal fungi, and fungal diseases on trees are caused by wood-destroying fungi. These can split and absorb the components of the wood through very specific enzymes in the fungal threads. If you look closely, you can discover them: Mushrooms that grow on dead wood do so in a wide variety of colors and shapes and thus become a unique work of art. Dead wood is an optimal breeding ground for mushrooms. Sometimes they are flat, sometimes round, sometimes there are many and sometimes only one - if you keep your eyes open, you can admire their beauty in the forest.
MUSHROOM GROUPS
I
sometimes find mushrooms standing alone and then again large collections of them. Closely packed, fungis colonize a stump or the forest floor. I am always surprised about these collections.
More exciting pictures from the Secret World of Mushrooms can be found here:
MORE MUSHROOMS