Fantastic Fungi

Question 1

What is the Agarikon mushroom?

Answer 1

Agarikon, Fomitopsis officinalis. This mushroom has been used medicinally for thousands of years, and known for centuries as “elixirium ad longam vitam” (“elixir of long life”). It is on the brink of extinction in Europe.

Question 2

Does Paul Stamets have a degree in mycology?

Answer 2

Mycological interest

Stamets credits his late brother, John, with stimulating his interest in mycology, and studied mycology as an undergraduate student. Having no academic training higher than a bachelor’s degree, Stamets is largely self-taught in the field of mycology.

Question 3

What is a simple definition of fungi?

Answer 3

(FUN-gus) A plant-like organism that does not make chlorophyll. Mushrooms, yeasts, and molds are examples. The plural is fungi.

Question 4

What are 3 examples for fungi?

Answer 4

Fungi are eukaryotic organisms that include microorganisms such as yeasts, molds, and mushrooms. These organisms are classified under kingdom fungi.

Question 5

What is Fungi?

Answer 5

Fungi, which includes the yeasts, rusts, smuts, mildews, molds, and mushrooms. There are also many funguslike organisms, including slime molds and oomycetes (water molds), that do not belong to kingdom Fungi but are often called fungi.

Question 6

How many species of fungi are there?

Answer 6

However, little is known of the true biodiversity of the fungus kingdom, which has been estimated at 2.2 million to 3.8 million species. Of these, only about 148,000 have been described, with over 8,000 species known to be detrimental to plants and at least 300 that can be pathogenic to humans.

Question 7

Are we 53% fungi?

Answer 7

Stamets explains that humans share nearly 50 percent of their DNA with fungi, and we contract many of the same viruses as fungi.

Question 8

Are mushrooms male or female?

Answer 8

Humans have male and female sexes. Mushrooms have positive (pos) and negative (neg) mating types. There is absolutely no visible difference between pos and neg hyphae, but each requires the presence of its opposite for reproduction to be possible. So, all mushrooms depend on random chance for their reproduction.

Question 9

What mushroom has 23000 sexes?

Answer 9

One species of fungi, Schizophyllum commune, really shines when it comes to gender diversity. The white, fan-shaped mushroom has more than 23,000 different sexual identities, a result of widespread differentiation in the genetic locations that govern its sexual behavior.

Question 10

What are the main parts of a mushroom?

Answer 10

Stems, Caps, and Gills

The toadstool mushroom that most of us picture contains a cap, stem, and gills. The cap normally houses the spore producing surface of the fruiting body, which can consist of gills (oyster mushrooms), pores (porcinis), ridges/false gills (chanterelles), or teeth (Lion’s Mane).

Question 11

Mushrooms that don’t have caps?

Answer 11

Some mushrooms don’t have caps, like Puffballs, Lion’s mane, or Cordyceps. Some have a ton of tiny caps in a cluster like a Maitake, and some mushrooms like Tremella make structures that look like a sea sponge.

Some fungi don’t even produce mushrooms and instead create dense structures like Truffles, Poria Cocos, or most of the life cycle of the Chaga.

Question 12

Do some mushrooms not have gills?

Answer 12

If a mushroom does not have gills or pores, it will likely have teeth. The lion’s mane mushroom is an excellent example of a mushroom with teeth. The teeth are small, soft, tooth-like structures. Another great example would be a Hedgehog mushroom with teeth under its cap. Many mushrooms have teeth, and they perform an identical function to gilled mushroom structures which are to spread spores.

Question 13

What are spores in fungi?

Answer 13

Fungal spores are microscopic biological particles that allow fungi to be reproduced, serving a similar purpose to that of seeds in the plant world. Fungi decompose organic waste and are essential for recycling of carbon and minerals in our ecosystem.

Question 14

What is the role of mycelium?

Answer 14

The mycelium helps to close the energy cycle of the ecosystem by decomposing organic matter and recycling it into beneficial compounds for the soil food web. Enzymes secreted by the mycelium facilitate this cycle. The enzymes break down the substrate and the surrounding dead organic matter.

Question 15

Which environments do mushrooms like to grow in?

Answer 15

Mushrooms grow from fungal spores that thrive in damp, dark conditions. They require a medium that is high in decaying plant matter. They often spring directly from dead trees. Plants, on the other hand, grow from seeds and require plenty of sun and soil, and don’t do well in overly damp environments.

Question 16

What is a mushroom ring?

Answer 16

Not all mushroom stems have a ring. The ring is located around the stem’s base, and it fans out like a skirt. The ring is a partial veil that surrounds and protects the gills while the mushroom is growing. As the mushroom cap expands and grows, it outgrows the protective veil form, and the veil breaks, detaching to form a ring around the mushroom stem.

Some rings are fragile fibers, like cobwebs, and some are thicker. The ring’s thickness, color, and shape can help people identify the mushroom.

Question 17

What is a volva?

Answer 17

In mycology, a volva is a cup-like structure at the base of a mushroom that is a remnant of the universal veil, or the remains of the peridium that encloses the immature fruit bodies of gasteroid fungi.

Question 18

All of mushroom anatomy

Answer 18

Cap (The mushroom cap is the structure on top of the mushroom that holds the gills or pores)
Gills (The gills are used by the mushrooms as a means of spore dispersal, and are important for species identification)
Ring (Fairy rings are caused by an individual fungus growing underground. The fungus sprouts lots of small threads, called mycelium, in a circular shape.)
Stem (A mushroom stem is the stalk of a mushroom, Its primary function is to support the cap and the spores it contains.)
Volva (botany a cup-shaped structure that sheathes the base of the stalk of certain mushrooms.)
Mycelium (Mycelia often grow underground but can also thrive in other places such as rotting tree trunks. A single spore can develop into a mycelium. The fruiting bodies of fungi, such as mushrooms, can sprout from a mycelium.)
Hyphae (each of the branching filaments that make up the mycelium of a fungus.)

Question 19

Is mycelium apart of a mushrooms anatomy?

Answer 19

Mycelium isn’t apart of the mushrooms anatomy but sometimes apart of its lifecycle

Question 20

What are functional mushrooms?

Answer 20

Functional mushrooms refer to mushrooms that have been cultivated for health benefits rather than solely as a food source. They can help consumers in a number of ways from reducing inflammation to coping with the stress of everyday life and improving general wellness.

Question 21

What are functional mushrooms benefits?

Answer 21

Functional mushrooms are also now often used for regulating mood as well as sleep, boosting digestive health, and improving skin radiance.

Question 22

How are mushrooms helpful?

Answer 22

Mushrooms contain macronutrients that support a healthy immune system. According to the Mushroom Council, your immune system will benefit from mushrooms whose nutrients include: Selenium, which helps your body make antioxidant enzymes to prevent cell damage. Choose cremini or portabella mushrooms for the most benefit.

Question 23

Are bioluminescent fungi real?

Answer 23

Yes. Bioluminescent fungi typically sprout on decaying wood and are capable of digesting lignin in plant debris. Most of the bioluminescent fungi belong to a genus called Mycena (bonnet mushrooms).

Question 24

What is a Mycophile?

Answer 24

mycophile (plural mycophiles) A person who likes hunting for, cooking or eating mushrooms and other edible fungi.

Question 25

Is there really a mushroom that eats plastic?

Answer 25

Researchers have now found that many species are capable of plastic bioremediation including the common, edible Oyster mushroom. The Oyster mushroom is capable of decomposing plastic while still creating an edible mushroom. This opens up doors for its use as an at-home recycling system.

Question 26

Is mycelium like a brain?

Answer 26

Mycelium grows one cell at a time, but they keep branching in all directions – and the mycelial network has more connections than our brain’s neural pathways! The network actually works much like our brains, by using electrical impulses and electrolytes.

Question 27

When did Fungi first appear?

Answer 27

about one billion years ago
Minute fossils pulled from remote Arctic Canada could push back the first known appearance of fungi to about one billion years ago — more than 500 million years earlier than scientists had expected.

Question 28

When did we divide from fungi?

Answer 28

Vilgalys said scientists estimate that the lineage that included both fungi and animals split off from other eukaryotes about 1 billion years ago, while fungi and plants separated about 600 million years ago.

Question 29

Do mushrooms trap carbon

Answer 29

Mycelium also sequesters a great deal of carbon, which keeps climate-warming carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere (some fungi can store 70 percent more carbon in the soil!). Furthermore, the mycelium is able to break some of that stored carbon down into carbohydrates, which then act as nutrients for the soil.

Question 30

What makes a mushroom psychedelic?

Answer 30

The effects of psilocybin mushrooms come from psilocybin and psilocin. When psilocybin is ingested, it is broken down by the liver in a process called dephosphorylation. The resulting compound is called psilocin, responsible for the psychedelic effects.

Question 31

What is the stoned ape theory?

Answer 31

The theory claims that that the transition from Homo erectus to Homo sapiens and the cognitive revolution was caused by the addition of psilocybin mushrooms, specifically the mushroom Psilocybe cubensis, into the human diet around 100 thousand years ago.

Question 32

What is Psilocybe Cubensis?

Answer 32

Psilocybe cubensis is a species of psilocybin mushroom of moderate potency whose principal active compounds are psilocybin and psilocin.

Question 33

What Is Synesthesia?

Answer 33

Synesthesia is when you hear music, but you see shapes. Or you hear a word or a name and instantly see a color. Synesthesia is a fancy name for when you experience one of your senses through another. For example, you might hear the name “Alex” and see green.

Question 34

Is language a form of synaesthesia?

Answer 34

In 2007, Simner suggested that language has a ‘special’ status in synaesthesia, based on the predominance of linguistic items as inducers, and called for more research into the essentially psycholinguistic basis of grapheme-colour synaesthesia.

Question 35

What is penicillin mainly used for?

Answer 35

What is penicillin mainly used for?
Penicillin is an antibiotic. It is used to treat infections caused by bacteria. It does not work on viral infections (such as colds and flu).

Question 36

How did penicillin change during ww2?

Answer 36

World War II saw major advances in medical technology including the mass production of penicillin. On March 14, 1942, U.S. made-penicillin was used to successfully treat the first patient for septicemia, or blood poisoning.

Answer 37

Hyphae and mycelia show decision-making capabilities. Mycelia exhibit spatial recognition, learning, and short-term memory.

Question 38

Is mycelium intelligent?

Answer 38

According to fungi expert Paul Stamets, mycelia are highly intelligent structures. That’s right: intelligent. They spread out and respawn, forming massive networks. Mycelia are made up of rigid cell walls, which allow them to move through soil and tough environments.

Question 39

Do fungi have minds?

Answer 39

And somehow, without a brain, fungi are able to integrate these many data streams, make decisions, and determine suitable courses of action. Fungi can find the shortest path between two points in a labyrinth (rather like slime molds, or Physarum, which have become poster organisms for brainless problem-solving). They can hijack insect bodies and control their behavior with an astonishing degree of precision. They can negotiate intricate trading relationships with plants. They maintain countless channels of communication with other organisms and with distant parts of themselves. The mycelium of some fungal species is electrically excitable and conducts spikes of electrical activity (analogous to the electrical impulses in animal nerve cells), and researchers are working on ways to use fungal networks as living circuit boards, or “biocomputers,” –

Question 40

What are the benefits of lion’s mane?

Answer 40

As a result, it exhibits disease-fighting properties, including anti-cancer, anti-microbial and antioxidant activity. Research also suggests that lion’s mane may protect nerves from disease or decline, according to a 2015 abstract in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Question 41

Is Lion’s Mane good for Alzheimer’s patients?

Answer 41

There is promising therapeutic potential in Lion’s Mane mushroom for treating cognitive deficits. Amazingly, research is showing it may prevent or treat Alzheimer’s by acting directly on Tau tangles and beta-amyloid plaque, reducing oxidative stress and inflammation, stimulating the growth of new neurons and more.

Question 42

What mushrooms help with neurogenesis?

Answer 42

Lion’s Mane Benefits

Research on the health benefits of lion’s mane indicates the mushroom has significant potential to promote neurogenesis, prevent and repair nerve damage, as well as alleviate dementia, symptoms of depression and anxiety, and neuropathic pain, among other neurological health properties.

Question 43

What are Mayan mushroom stones?

Answer 43

Archaeological evidence, in the form of the artifacts known as ‘mushroom stones’ points to consumption by the Maya of psychedelic mushrooms. These stones are often decorated with figures and were believed to have been used in an ancient hallucinogenic mushroom cult.

Question 44

Did Mesoamerica use mushrooms?

Answer 44

The consumption of hallucinogenic mushrooms in ritual ceremonies was widespread among Mesoamerican cultures. Religious practices with sacred mushrooms extended from the Valley of Mexico to the rest of Central America, and they are thought to be at least 3500 years old.

Question 45

What did Mayan mushroom stones represent?

Answer 45

Mushroom stones were also believed to be associated with human decapitation, a trophy head cult, warfare and the Mesoamerican ballgame.

Question 46

How does psychedelics work?

Answer 46

That hallucinogens ‘stimulate’ serotonin 2A receptors means that they mimic the action of serotonin at the receptor by binding to it, altering its conformation or ‘shape’, and ultimately altering the internal conditions and therefore behaviour of the neuron it sits on.