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The English word fungus is directly adopted from the Latin fungus (mushroom), used in the writings of Horace and Pliny. [10] This in turn is derived from the Greek word sphongos (σφόγγος 'sponge'), which refers to the macroscopic structures and morphology of mushrooms and molds; [11] the root is also used in other languages, such as the German Schwamm ('sponge') and Schimmel ('mold').
Close up of mold on a strawberry Penicillium mold growing on a clementine. A mold (US, PH) or mould (UK, CW) is one of the structures that certain fungi can form. The dust-like, colored appearance of molds is due to the formation of spores containing fungal secondary metabolites. The spores are the dispersal units of the fungi.
A fungus is any member of a large group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms.The Fungi are classified as a kingdom that is separate from plants and animals.
"Mushroom" has been used for polypores, puffballs, jelly fungi, coral fungi, bracket fungi, stinkhorns, and cup fungi. Thus, the term is more one of common application to macroscopic fungal fruiting bodies than one having precise taxonomic meaning.
[39] [40] Another devastating fungal pathogen is Sarocladium oryzae, which is a type of sheath rot fungus prevalent in India and is a great threat to rice cultivation. [41] Historically, one of the more well-known cases of plant-fungal pandemics was the potato blight of Ireland, which was caused by a water mold known as Phytophthora infestans .
Molds are microscopic fungi, Josephine Wee, Ph.D., an assistant professor of food science at Penn State University, tells TODAY.com. Other examples of fungi include mushrooms and yeast, the kind ...
Hericium erinaceus, a tooth fungus; also called "lion's mane mushroom" Hydnum repandum, sweet tooth fungus, hedgehog mushroom or hedgehog fungus, urchin of the woods; Lactarius deliciosus, saffron milk cap, consumed around the world and prized in Russia; Morchella genus (morel family) morels belong to the ascomycete grouping of fungi. They are ...
There is also a case for a fungal affinity for the enigmatic microfossil Ornatifilum. Since the fungi form a sister group to the animals, the two lineages must have diverged before the first animal lineages, which are known from fossils as early as the Ediacaran. [9] In contrast to plants and animals, the early fossil record of the fungi is meager.