Fantastic Fungi
Who doesn’t like mushrooms? Mostly the edible ones, I assume, but looking at them in the wild, I also really enjoy the colors and varieties of fungi in nature, including colorful lichen found on trees and rocks. There are some whimsical myths and legends surrounding mushrooms. According to the Audubon Field Guide to mushrooms, the circular patterns on some mushrooms were thought to have been caused by fairies dancing around them at night. And of course, there are “magic mushrooms” used by some native peoples, especially in South America to assist them on vision quests, the practice of which is limited but still exists. Often, mushrooms seem to have appeared overnight, but they have actually been growing underground or under tree bark for some time before we see them pop up. Several plant varieties would not exist without mushrooms as they have formed a symbiotic relationship and exchange nutrients with each other. The mushroom is the fruiting part of the fungus that appears above groun