A person who studies fungi is a mycologist. They do this by absorbing food materials from either living organisms, as parasites, or from dead organic matter, as saprobes.
Fungi are simple in structure compared to most plants.
Although some fungi, such as the mushrooms, are large enough to be seen easily, most fungi are microscopic in size and must be observed with the aid of a microscope. For many years fungi were regarded as plants and were included in the plant kingdom. Fungi and plants are very different, however. Plants, e.g., possess chlorophyll, most reproduce by forming seeds, and they have complex conductive systems to carry water and minerals from the roots through a large stem or trunk to the leaves. Fungi lack all of these features.