More than a Bump on a Log Printable Version More than a Bump on a Log Mushrooms are used for everything from cooking to rocket fuel. The Call of Black Trumpets Flavorful fungi helped her health and wealth. They're all derived from fungus. Fungus gives us the frustration of athletes' foot, jock itch and smelly mildew as well as the delights of truffles, shiitake, enoki and portobello mushrooms.
Fungi contribute to ecology, medicine and cuisine.
A compound from one species of mushroom has even been used in rocket fuel. There are around 100,000 species of fungus, many invisible to the eye. Mushroom estimates range from several hundred types to several thousand, depending on what the classifier thinks deserves the designation. Actually, a mushroom is simply one type of fungus, according to George Wong, a University of Hawai'i botanist and mycologist. It starts with the germination of a single cell organism called a spore.