Fungi Fun Facts

In acknowledgment to the positive response from our my-community to our factual Instagram mushroom posts, we have compiled some of our favorite fungi fun facts on a handy journal article. We will regularly update the page so you have an array of awesome toadstool teachings handy to sprout up at any dinner party or occasion.

• Over 90% of the mushrooms consumed in the United states is the white button mushroom, including its mature version, portobellos. 
• Although mushrooms are grown in every state, Pennsylvania produces over 60% of all fresh mushrooms. In fact, an area called Kennett Square is known as the Mushroom Capital of the World - with over 47 mushroom growers residing in just this area!
• There are over 50,000 species of mushrooms on this earth of these, only 1 - 2% are poisonous!
• Some mushrooms can create their own thermals that actively eject spores.
• Mushrooms have a superpower - they can create wind!⁠ Did you know mushrooms reproduce by creating air flow and allowing their moisture to evaporate?⁠ This evaporation that occurs creates water vapor that helps carry spores out of the mushroom
• The Gili Islands, an archipelago of three small Indonesian islands off Bali, are inhabited by predominantly Muslim populations. Culturally, Muslims on the islands are very harsh about alcohol and marijuana, but very interestingly sell and consume magic mushrooms on a regular basis. The islands are known as a no-mans land for psychedelic tourism and total decriminalization.
• Did you know fungi can sense footsteps in the woods or even the vibrations of fallen trees in the forest? They share this information through miles of mycelium webs and roots, which trees use as a language between each other.

• Just like humans, mushrooms can produce vitamin D upon exposure to sunlight and UV radiation.
• Folklore hints that European witches have long used fungi in potions. By a strange coincidence, witchcraft was falsely blamed for many deaths that were actually caused by poisonous fungi in ancient times.⁠
• As it turns out, humans are related to fungi. Science has found that DNA in fungi very closely resembles the DNA of humans. Of course, there are a few changes in our DNA structure that set us apart, such as giving variations in eye, skin, and hair color. However, we are technically all related, which isn’t surprising since we are all from the same earth. Interestingly, some fungi can even crawl and no plant can, HOWEVER humans can - another clue perhaps. This mushroom motility is achieved through flagella, a tail that whips just like the human sperm cell.⁠
• Did you know fungi inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, just as humans do?⁠

• Mushroom coffee is not a new trend. In the 1940s, Scandanavian’s would brew chaga when coffee and other rations were in short supply. During the World War ll, provisions were often cut short as supply lines and country borders were blocked. Because of this, wild Chaga was foraged and used in combination with cheap alternatives such as malt and chicory.⁠
• Renewable energy ..from mushrooms?! A group of scientists combined button mushrooms with a 3D printer using the theory of cyanobacteria and symbiosis. The bacteria produce energy by turning sunlight into electric current, thus producing bio-electricity. The scientists discovered that a small amount of power was produced that could potentially create enough energy to light an LED.⁠
• There are five kingdoms that all living organisms on earth belong to: Monera, Protista, Plantae, Animalia and Fungi. Many argue that Fungi is the official fifth kingdom. This is why the world renowned mycology textbook “The Fifth Kingdom” is named as such.⁠
• Unlike plant cells, fungal cells do not have chlorophyll. This allows for many fungi to display bright colors that arise from other cellular pigments. In fact, these fungi pigments are associated with the cell wall and play a protective role against ultraviolet radiation.⁠
• Did you know the largest organism in the world is a mushroom, well mycelium to be exact? In 1998, a giant Armillaria ostoyae was discovered and recorded as the world's largest known organism, once believed to be a 110-foot-long, 200-ton blue whale. Based on its current growth rate, the fungus is estimated to be 2,400 years old but could be as ancient as 8,650 years, which would earn it one of the awards as one of the oldest living organisms as well.⁠

• Did you know Penicillin is derived from mushrooms? In 1928, Scottish scientist Alexander Fleming extracted molecules from Penicillium ascomycetous fungi for the first antibacterial drug on the market. In 1930, Fleming’s student Cecil Paine was the first to be successfully treated using penicillin for an eye infection. There happen to be several antibiotics that were created within the penicillin class and they are known for their ability to disrupt cell walls of bacteria.
• Fungi inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, just as humans do.⁠
• A mushroom is the fruit of fungus, just like an apple is the fruit of an apple tree.
• In 2014, scientists found that fungi process have a bigger effect on C02 than the amount of plant growth, temperature, and rainfall on earth. This is because fungi can regulate and process carbon in exorbitant amounts. They have this ability because they are connected with the plant roots at the molecular level, enabling a directional flow of nutrients. First, fungi get carbohydrates from trees, which put stored carbon into the ground, which is then broken down by fungi, with its leftover mineral nutrients being transferred to the trees. ⁠AND it turns out, fungi have been helping regulate the global carbon cycle, i.e. the climate, for millions of years. One study found that during ancient ice age cycles, fungi slowed the removal of C02 from the air, which helped shift the climate back to a warmer phase.⁠
• Did you know fungi existed 300 million years ago, existing on the singular landmass known as Pangaea? Interestingly, as giant trees and plant material grew and died across the entire planetary mass, the sheer weight of all the matter was so prolific, that it compressed into lignite coal that stopped forming soon after the evolution of white-rot fungi. As we speak, that coal is still being strip-mined today. In fact, since the mid-1800s, humans have burned so much of it that we are melting the planet’s ice caps and glaciers and acidifying the oceans with coal that will eventually be gone.⁠
• The ancient Egyptians called mushrooms “sons of the gods” and “plants of immortality.” They believed that the storm god Set created them by hurling lightning bolts coated in mushroom-seed to earth. In fact, consuming mushrooms was such a delicacy, that it was reserved with exclusive privilege to the pharaoh. Anthropologists have reported that hieroglyph carvings show only royalty associated with mushrooms, and that common men were forbidden from even touching mushrooms at all.

• Have you ever noticed that many foods look like the body part or organ they benefit most? For example, walnuts are good for the brain, sliced carrots enhance blood flow to the eyes, ginger root aids digestion in the intestines, tomatoes have four chambers, just like the human heart, and bananas look like a smile, while containing tryptophan, which gets converted into serotonin. mushrooms belong in this category as well. sliced mushrooms resemble the human ear. Interestingly, studies show that mushrooms contain high amounts of vitamin D, which has been scientifically proven to improve hearing.
• Did you know that in ancient Egypt mushrooms were a rare and revered delicacy? They were associated with immortality, and as such, only royalty could consume them. This was because royals were believed to have descended from the Egyptian gods themselves. Hieroglyphics found in Egypt indicate that mushrooms were being consumed with meals more than 4,500 years ago. These ancient paintings bring about much fungi folklore and plant magic.
• Did you know 1 acre can produce about 1 million mushrooms each year? In fact, in 2017-18, 891 million pounds of mushrooms were produced in just 1 square mile on a farm in Pennsylvania. Mushrooms themselves contain more protein and potassium than most of the vegetables and fruits out there. Plant based eating AND sustainability benefits - mushrooms really can save the world!