David Compton, age i2, of Bradenton., Fla., for his question:
What causes toadstools to grow?
Our rich planet teems with a multitude of plants and animals, all busy carrying on the exciting details of life. A lot of this activity is on a small Scale, too small for our eyes to See. Still more is done in Secret. Suddenly a crop of shy little toadstools appears in the garden, and We wonder how they got started.
The poisonous mushrooms which non experts call toadstools are produced by Parent toadstools for all living things come from living things like themselves. But the early history of a crop of toadstools happens on a miniature scale. Too small for our eyes to observe without the help of a microscope. What's more, the early life of these chubby little umbrellas is secretly hidden.
The pale toadstool that pokes above the ground is only part of the toadstool plant. Most of the plant is a mesh of tangled threads hidden in the loamy soil. It is the mycelium. In fungus plants like the toadstool, it does the work of roots and growing stems. When the mycelium is ready to reproduce, it sprouts toadstools above the ground.
Each toadstool carries the spores or seedlets for a new generation. It is Called a fruiting body, and its sporea crowd like fine dust in the leafy gills under tht sheltering umbrella. When ripe, the spores break free and float on the air like a cloud of finest dust. The Spores may be carried far Over land and sea, but most of them will come to nothing.
Perhaps one lucky spore will land at last on a moist and shady patch of super rich soil. You would never notice the tiny speck, and even if you knew it was there it is too small to be Seen. The lucky spore soon starts to sprout its first fine threads of mycelium. It is still too small to be Seen, so the little fungus goes on growing in secret, hidden among the crumbs of loamy soil.
You would never guess it was there, even when the matted mycelium has grown large enough to hand on life. Then one day a surprising crop of little pale buttons pops up above the ground and you wonder how in the world these shy little toadstools got started.
Mushrooms, toadstools and giant puffballs are members of the fungi family. They have no chlorophyll to make their own food, so they must use food made by other plants. This is why fungi must find soil that is rich with organic materials. They thrive around rotting tree stumps and soil which contains decaying plant and animal material.