Full Text:
Mushrooms (also called toadstools) are a fleshy fungi that are spore-bearing and grow above ground on soil or on their food source. Most mushrooms have a stem (stipe), a cap (pileus) and gills on the underside of the cap; however, they also come in varieties with or without stems. Some forms of mushrooms deviate from the standard morphology and have more specific names like "bolete," "puffball," "stinkhorn" and "morel.
" The gills on a mushroom produce microscopic spores that fall in a fine rain of powder from under the caps and help the fungi spread across the ground or its occupant.Image credit: Christina Whitcomb/NSF
