What's a mushroom? Answer: the fruiting body of a seemingly invisible root system called a mycelial network. We're talking about the kingdom of fungii. The delicate, thread like mycelium fuses the earth's landscape, providing crucial ecological functions and literally holding the earth's soil together beneath our feet. When the conditions and moisture levels are right, the mycelium condenses and forms the mushroom body The variety of shape, color, taste, edibility, health benefits, and other miscellaneous uses are astounding. Once you begin to dig deeper into mushroom history, you will begin to see that this organism has also had a very unique contribution to human evolution and development.
Fungus preceeds plant life on this planet and can be considered the earth's internet. It sends information and nutrients from eco system to eco system, helping to connect our entire world. The mushroom spore, essentially its seed, can also survive space and zero gravity conditions. A man named Paul Stamets is responsible for helping to spread the information and popularize mushrooms for people who had no idea about their function. His book, Mycelium Running, is probably the most popular modern day mushroom manual, providing history, cultivation methods, scientific facts, etc. He also has several talks on the internet about his research and discoveries. Anyone with an interest in the world will surely be mesmerized by the mushroom after hearing some of his talks.
Wonderful book on mushrooms that will surely excite anyone with an interest in the universe. Fascinating information about history, function, cultivation, etc. Consider this a general mushroom overview.
A fantastic resource for the collecting and identification of mushrooms, including edibilty information and cooking methods. Also full of wonderful pictures. The author lives three hours north of me in perhaps the mushroom capital of the world, Mendocino County, California.
