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Revision as of 12:51, 9 March 2003 by Mac (talk | contribs)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)The term mushroom usually refers to fungi that have a shaft and a cap but is also used to refer to visible fungi in general.
Mushrooms are used extensively in cooking many cuisines. However, many mushrooms are poisonous, often ressembling edible varieties, and eating them can be fatal. Picking your own wild mushrooms is extremely risky and a practice not to be undertaken by amateurs. Mushrooms and other fungi are studied by mycologists. Mycologists refer to agarics and boletes as Basidiomycota, "true mushrooms".
Psilocybin mushrooms possess hallucinogenic properties and are commonly known as "'shrooms". A number of other mushrooms are eaten for their psychoactive effects, including Fly Agaric.
Spores released from the fan-shaped basidiocarp of this inch-wide Crinipellis perniciosa mushroom can infect cacao trees and drastically reduce yields of the beans from which cocoa and chocolate products are made.
Crinipellis perniciosa mushroom thumbnail
Larger Crinipellis perniciosa mushroom image
