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THE LIFECYCLE OF A MUSHROOM
The mushrooms that you see in the woods and forests may well look nice, but it is important to realize that what you see above ground is not the whole fungus. You are in fact seeing the fruiting body, which has a prime function of spreading spores to create new colonies. It is what's going on under the ground, that keeps the fungus alive. Though the fruiting body of the fungus only stays around for a matter of days in most cases, the main body of the fungus, under the ground, can last for years! Many threads called hyphae, form a branching web collectively known as the mycelium. This spreads out throughout the soil or wood or whatever the chosen substrate, absorbing nutrients. The fruiting bodies only appear when the environmental conditions are right, usually when there is a sudden change in weather e.g. warm and sunny one day, cold and rain the next. This is what usually triggers them to grow. Each fruitbody contains thousands of spores and if one lands on a suitable site, it will germinate and grow to form a new mycelium.
(Above) Diagram of the Lifecycle of a Mushroom
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