The rest of the mushroom's body is made up of hundreds of tiny, branching threads. The densely branched mycelium spreads out through the sand or dead matter and the hyphae absorb needed nutrients. If the hyphae cross each other and fuse together, small buttons are created that can become fruiting bodies almost overnight. For most of the year, a mushroom remains completely underground. After a good rain, the mycelium enlarges rapidly and will send up fruiting bodies with spores .
Spores are almost weightless and can float long distances on a light breeze.
But not all spores travel with the wind. Flies, attracted to mushrooms that smell like rotten meat, carry spores to a variety of locations. Animals such as flying squirrels and the Florida mouse will eat mushrooms and the spores will pass, unharmed, through their digestive tracts. Spores can also travel in water. Some mushrooms have a cooperative, mutually beneficial relationship with tree roots.