When we hear the word mushroom, most of us picture an umbrella shaped vegetable that we either loved or hated as a kid. However, you may not know that what you find in the supermarket is only the fruiting body of a much more complex fungal network known as mycelium. Mycelium are thread like structures that branch into underground networks. Often quoted the Earth’s natural Internet, mycelium create a link between plant roots which allows for widely separated plants to stay connected.

The mycelium network allows for plants to share nutrients and information about the surrounding environment with their neighbours, creating a mutually beneficial relationship. Larger plants are able to use the mycelium network to help smaller and more vulnerable plants by providing them with extra nutrients that are essential for plant growth, and when plants are attacked by harmful fungi, they release chemical signals into the mycelia warning their neighbours.

However, much like the dark web, nature’s web also has a dark side. Some plants steal from each other using the mycelium network. Plants that don't have chlorophyll, cannot produce their own energy through photosynthesis. So, they get the carbon they need from nearby trees, using the network. In most environments, plants compete with their neighbours for resources, and so use the mycelium network to release toxic chemicals which harms their neighbours.

So, the next time you see a mushroom and think it unimpressive, remember this quote from Margaret Atwood….

“Mushrooms were the roses in the garden of that unseen world, because the real mushroom plant was underground. The parts you could see - what most people called a mushroom - was just a brief apparition. A cloud flower.”