Mushrooms are the visible manifestations (sexual organs, actually) of microscopic, soil-dwelling fungi that form mutually-beneficial partnerships with plants.
Since these filamentous fungi interact with the roots of plants, such symbiotic relationships are called mycorrhizae, literally “fungus root”.
Fossil evidence supports the idea that these plant-fungal partnerships are as old as the emergence of terrestrial plants (about 500 [...]
Posts Tagged ‘symbiosis’
The Wood-Wide-Web: Are Plants Inter-Connected by a Subterranean Fungal Network?
Posted in The Neighbors, tagged ecology, evolution, fungi, plants, science, symbiosis on October 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
