How diverse is the world of mushrooms, these creatures of nature endowed with some properties of both plants and animals! Not so long ago, in 1970, scientists identified them as a separate kingdom (in the beginning, many mushrooms were classified as plants). And the science that describes the vital activity of various types of fungi became known as mycology (a branch of botany).
Great Realm
You already know that these are not only porcini, boletus, boletus, honey mushrooms and other hat mushrooms that we meet in the forest, collecting them for cooking. And not only those champignons and oyster mushrooms, which are dotted with supermarket shelves. The kingdom of mushrooms is the most numerous group of organisms living on planet Earth: from the simplest and invisible to the naked eye threads to giant mushrooms that can give shelter, like in a fairy tale, to small animals and insects. And cap mushrooms are only a small, but undoubtedly important, segment of this large community. We will talk about them today.
General Features
These include, first of all, the well-known forest mushrooms: porcini and aspen mushrooms, boletus and milk mushrooms, russula and fly agaric, mushrooms and champignons and many others. They grow in forests - deciduous and coniferous, in swamps, in meadows, near water. And in the city they can be found in parks, and in squares, and in gardens. It is about them that some fairy tales of the peoples of the world are composed, it is they who are mostly eaten, since many of these creatures of nature are edible and beneficial to humans.
Mushrooms and people
Hat mushrooms play a very important role in people's lives. First of all, especially in ancient times, it is one of the sources of food. Mushrooms contain a lot of protein, trace elements and vitamins, which allows them to occupy a worthy place in the human food chain at the present time. Cap mushrooms can be prepared in a variety of culinary ways. And with their participation in the world kitchen practice, various peoples of the Earth have hundreds of delicious dishes.
Symbiosis
Hat mushrooms are of great importance for higher plants. Most of them are saprotrophs and live only in association with trees (by the way, this is also reflected in some names: boletus, boletus, for example). How do cap mushrooms eat? The mycelium tightly wraps around the root washcloths, performing a peculiar function of root hairs, contributing to the full supply and saturation of the trunk with nutrients, minerals and water. And from trees, hat mushrooms receive ready-made organics,which is processed into inorganic compounds that act as nutrition for higher plants. Thus, a symbiosis of these several species is manifested, a mutually beneficial cooperation, called mycorrhiza.
Fruiting body
Actually, what we used to call a mushroom is only an integral part of the whole organism, its fruiting body. The other (and main) part - the mycelium - is hidden from prying eyes in the ground rich in humus, or in rotten wood. In most of the species of mushrooms, the mycelium-mycelium consists of numerous hyphae. Of these, under favorable circumstances (rain, warm weather), the fruiting bodies of cap mushrooms are formed, crawling to the surface. Usually they consist of a hat and a stem (but there are also monovariants: only a hat).
Tubular and lamellar
You probably already know what cap mushrooms are in nature? They are divided into tubular and lamellar. In the former, spores intended for reproduction are able to form in the narrow tubules of the cap, which have a tubular shape. In the second, the spores are located in the cap plates.
Plate
Their hats are quite fleshy, sometimes resilient, leathery and webbed. The most famous are: russula, volnushki, milk mushrooms, champignons, mushrooms, and many other types of hat mushrooms. There are about 300 species of russula alone! Many of them are edible and traditionally eaten by humans in s alted, boiled, fried form. Some have a rather pungent taste that disappears when soaked and boiled. specialmushrooms have gained popularity, of which there are also many species, most of which are edible. Mushrooms, also related to agaric mushrooms, often grow in nature on the ground and dung, in meadows and pastures. They often form circular settlements, which are popularly called "witch rings".
Tubular
There are slightly less than 250 species in nature. They are found everywhere in the temperate latitudes of various countries of the planet. They have a pillow-shaped hat, rounded and fleshy. The tubular layer of the cap is quite easy to peel off. It is known that many tubular enter into symbiosis with higher plants - trees of a certain type. Almost all tubulars are edible. The most famous are: white, boletus, boletus, mossiness mushrooms, boletus. Some of the tubular ones also contain antibiotics that can kill pathogens.
Artificial cultivation
In terms of cultivation and artificial cultivation of mushrooms: for many tubular mushrooms, this seems unlikely. Since they exist only in symbiosis with certain trees. Thus, for breeding, for example, a boletus on an industrial scale, it will be necessary to plant a whole birch grove. But the cultivation of some lamellar is not only possible, but has been successfully used by people for several centuries. So, the experience of mushroom cultivation by people has up to 300 years. And the now popular oyster mushroom is grown in damp basements with great success.
Tinder fungi
Tinder fungus is a parasitic cap fungus that settles on trees and can destroy their wood. Instances of tinder fungus are known, reaching a weight of 10 kilograms. They are usually found on tree trunks. And after the death of the tree, the tinder fungus can continue to live for a long time, utilizing the wood and eating the rotting remains of the tree.
Poisonous cap mushrooms
Poisonous cap mushrooms, which can cause severe poisoning, are of particular danger to people. Of these, the pale grebe is considered the most poisonous. If you eat it (even after boiling it first), it can lead to death.
Amanitas, false mushrooms, bile and satanic mushrooms also pose a danger to humans. Under no circumstances should they be eaten. As a rule, these mushrooms also have edible counterparts that are similar in appearance. This further increases the danger of picking mushrooms. And before you go on a mushroom hunt, you need to clearly learn to understand the types of mushrooms so as not to become a victim of food poisoning. And some hats are conditionally edible. These include: pigs, morels and lines. In them, harmful substances are removed by repeated boiling and changing the water. Beginning mushroom pickers must also remember that some mushrooms, even considered edible, can be poisonous if collected along a railway or highway. This is because fungi tend to absorb harmful substances emitted by locomotives and cars. So, going for mushrooms, the best thing to do would bego deeper into the forest.
The materials of this article can be used to conduct a biology lesson on the topic "Hat mushrooms" (Grade 5).
