Fungi

A botanical term applied to all vegetation which is unable to draw its nourishment from the chemical components of the earth, as do all the "ordinary" plants, and must live on "organic" substances - animal or vegetable matter, alive or decaying - resembling in that respect members of the animal kingdom. The order comprises a great number of species, differing widely in size, appearance and characteristics - some very valuable, others most pernicious. The higher Fungi include all MUSHROOMS, some of which rank as very nutritious human food, TRUFFLES and kindred plants. The smallest, known as MICRO-ORGANISMS, or microbes, include the YEAST-cells employed in the making of wine, and in numerous other ways; the molds which produce moldiness, mildew, etc., and BACTERIA of all kinds.

See BACTERIA, MICRO-ORGANISMS, MOLDS, MUSHROOMS, TRUFFLES and YEAST.

Arround Fungi in The Grocer's Encyclopedia

• "F"
• "FU"