Mushrooms

What are mushrooms?

A mushroom is a plant that comes from the family Basidiomycota. It is a type of fungi that can be found in forests and mountains. It is somewhat like the fruit of a plant, except that the "seeds" it produces are in fact millions of microscopic spores that form in the gills or pores underneath the mushroom's cap.

Did you ever hear of the Malheur’s National Forest?

This forest is known for the lots of mushrooms it has. Underneath all the soil and moss there are long roots of trees and fungi. They reach out really deep and touch each other. Electrons are then sent to each other; it is basically like the trees and fungi are talking underground! Imagine this conversation:

“Hi!” <F <F=fungi talking

“Hello!” <T <T=tree talking

“How are you?” <F

“Well, not that good. My roots did not reach much water yesterday and neither this morning.”<T

“It hasn’t rained in a while. My water supply is fine. The new mushroom next door is annoying, but I try to ignore her.” <F

“Anyways, sorry but I got to go. Maybe, we talk again tomorrow?” <T

“Sure, bye!” <F

“Bye!” <T

Did you hear of the magic mushroom?

The magic mushroom is a type of mushroom though it is a bit different…

Feel:

-giggly, excited, confused and/or paranoid, anxious, nervous, overwhelmed.

Effects on your body:

-nausea/vomiting, distortion of sound and vision; hallucinations and ‘tripping’.

The effects take about 30 min to work and can last even up to 5 hours.

What experiments have been conducted with magic mushrooms?

Scientists ran an experiment on some white rats. They put about five rats in a cage and played the sounds a snake and cat make (noises the predators make). While the noises were played, the rats were curled up in a tense position shivering. Then the scientists fed the rats an average dose of magic mushrooms and played the noises again. This time the rats were not afraid, on the contrary, they were moving around the cage and listening to the noises curiously.

As most of the times the mushroom makes you happy, some doctors and psychiatrists think it might be the cure to depression. Although it might seem interesting and fun to eat, it is only used in medical cases.