Mushrooms are loved, despised, feared, and misunderstood. They have
been a familiar part of nature throughout human history and occupy a special
place in our consciousness. Nicholas P. Money introduces the mythology
and science of the spectacular array of fungi that produce mushrooms, the
history of our interactions with these curious and beautiful organisms, and the
ways that humans use mushrooms as food, medicine, and recreational drugs.
Mushrooms are not self-contained organisms like worms or beetles.
They are fruit bodies, or reproductive organs, produced by fungi whose
feeding colonies, or mycelia, are hidden in soil or rotting wood. These
colonies support life on land by decomposing plant and animal debris,
fertilising soils, and sustaining plant growth through partnerships called
mycorrhizas. Some of the fungi that produce mushrooms cause diseases
of trees and shrubs, and the airborne spores of others are a major cause of
asthma and hay fever. Mushrooms release so many spores into the atmosphere
that they may affect local weather conditions and promote rainfall.
Poisonous mushrooms were described by classical writers and edible
species were important in Roman cuisine.
Mushrooms became the objects
of scientific study in the seventeenth century. Pioneers of mushroom science have included paragons of eccentricity and their remarkable stories are celebrated in this book.
