Fungus

Title

Fungus

Artist

Jon Burch Photography

Medium

Photograph - Digital Capture

Description

Colorado is renowned for its world-class skiing in winter and hiking in the warmer months. However, it is not famous for its mushrooms, but it could be. The state is home to 2,000 to 3,000 varieties and has the second-largest concentration in the country after the Pacific Northwest. Colorado has many ecosystems, and mushrooms can be found in almost all of them. These fungi were found along Gore Creek, in Vail.

A fungus is any member of a large group of organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, Fungi, which is separate from plants, animals, protists, and bacteria.

Abundant worldwide, most fungi are inconspicuous because of the small size of their structures, and their cryptic lifestyles in soil, on dead matter, and as symbionts of plants, animals, or other fungi. They may become noticeable when fruiting, either as mushrooms or as molds. Fungi perform an essential role in the decomposition of organic matter and have fundamental roles in nutrient cycling and exchange. They have long been used as a direct source of food, such as mushrooms and truffles, as a leavening agent for bread, and in fermentation of various food products, such as wine, beer, and soy sauce. Since the 1940's, fungi have been used for the production of antibiotics, and, more recently, various enzymes produced by fungi are used industrially and in detergents. Fungi are also used as biological pesticides to control weeds, plant diseases and insect pests. Many species produce compounds called mycotoxins, such as alkaloids that are toxic to animals including humans.

Mycology is the branch of biology concerned with the systematic study of fungi, including their genetic and biochemical properties, their taxonomy, and their use to humans as a source of medicine, food, and psychotropic substances consumed for religious purposes, as well as their dangers, such as poisoning or infection. The field of phytopathology, the study of plant diseases, is closely related because many plant pathogens are fungi.

The use of fungi by humans dates back to prehistory; Otzi the Iceman, a well-preserved mummy of a 5,300-year-old Neolithic man found frozen in the Austrian Alps, carried two species of mushrooms that may have been used as tinder or medicinal purposes. Ancient peoples have used fungi as food sources, often unknowingly, for millennia, in the preparation of leavened bread and fermented juices. Some of the oldest written records contain references to the destruction of crops that were probably caused by pathogenic fungi.

What kind are these? I have no idea and certainly wouldn't assume they were non poisonous.

Image copyright 2014 Jon Burch Photography

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August 11th, 2014

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