The fungus kingdom of life is considered the most mystical and little-known. Just imagine that there are up to 14.000 described species of mushrooms in nature. Science goes on to discover this kingdom, opening new features and species day after day. Believe it or not, mushrooms hide much more secrets from humans than you might think before. Let’s explore the most curious facts about mushrooms in the article.
#1 Mushrooms are more related to humans than plants
One of the interesting facts about mushrooms describes the fungi’s nature as similar to humans. Mushrooms were distinguished as the unique nature kingdom, rather than plants, only in the 1970s. Furthermore, despite the compatible appearances of mushrooms and plants, fungi are similar to animals in much more aspects than plants. Mushrooms can not produce oxygen and require a food source for normal functionality. And since fungi are similar to animals, we can say they are more related to humans than other kingdoms!
#2 Early humans consumed magic mushrooms
You might be surprised that there is some evidence that humans have eaten magic mushrooms since the dawn of our history. Among multiple facts about magic mushrooms, cave arts depicting mushrooms remain one of the most breathtaking. Even though we don’t have enough proof that ancient people consumed exactly psychedelic mushrooms, the manner and elements in such cave arts say otherwise.
#3 Mushrooms may use electricity to communicate
According to a recent study conducted by Professor Andrew Adamatzky, fungi were found to be able to communicate by using electrical signals they send through hyphae. Moreover, a scientist described the electrical signal pulses as having a similar structure to human language. Even though Adamatzky investigated the fungus language to feature up to 50 words, some more evidence is required to confirm the theory that mushrooms can communicate just like people do.
#4 Fungus is the oldest living organism in the world
Mushrooms’ facts also relate to the specific fungi species as the oldest living organism on the planet. Shrooms that belong to the Armillaria ostoyae variety, also known as the Humongous Fungus, are considered among the oldest living organisms in the world. They are around 8,000 years old, can you imagine? Apart from being the oldest mushrooms of current shroom species, the Humongous Fungus also belongs to the largest living organisms on Earth. Its underground mushroom network weighs over 35,000 tons.
#5 Shrooms are good for mental health conditions
One of the magic mushrooms facts that you might not guess is that they are beneficial to our mental health. According to multiple recent studies and trials, psilocybin, an active compound in psychedelic mushrooms, is found to be suitable for treating depression, substance addiction, PTSD, and other mental health diseases. However, non-magical fungi can also enhance our mentality. One recent study concluded that eating any kind of edible fungi regularly tends to prevent people from developing mental health conditions.
