Mushrooms belong to the group of plants known as fungi. They are different from other plants because of the way they grow. Instead of growing from seeds, fungi grow from very simple organisms called spores. The hit rate of successful spores is very low. So fungi have to produce literally millions to be sure that some will grow into new plants. One large mushroom can produce 16,000 million spores, but only a few of these will germinate and grow into new mushrooms.
If a spore lands on a suitable piece of ground, it sends out fine branching threads known as hyphae. They form a dense network underground. Small white bumps grow from this and eventually appear on the surface as mushrooms. Once the new mushrooms open out into their familiar umbrella shapes, they start shedding spores of their own to continue the growing process.
Mushrooms are delicious. Other varieties of fungi can be eaten too. Be warned, however. There are some that are terribly poisonous. So we should not eat any of them until we have identified that they are safe.
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