Entangled Life

Entangled Life: How Fungi Make Our Worlds, Change Our Minds & Shape Our Futures by Merlin Sheldrake, Random House Trade Paperbacks, 2021. 

Symbiosis

Algae + fungi = lichen.  Lichens dissolve rocks with acids and absorb their minerals.  While the symbiosis between algae and fungi called lichen is well known, the symbiosis between land plant roots and Mycorrhizal fungi is more important. MF help plants absorb nutrients from the soil. Mycorrhizal hyphae are much finer than the finest plant roots. They extend from inside plant roots into the soil. Phosphorus and nitrogen two of the most important minerals that MF help plants absorb. Also water, zinc, copper.

Mycelium

Mycelium is the underground part of the fungus. Some pesticides used in agriculture harm fungal communities in the roots of crops.

Communication

Plants communicate with each other by means of fungal networks in the soil called mycelium. Mycelium is made up of hyphae. Hyphae are thin filaments of fungus.

Mushrooms

Mushrooms are the fruiting body of fungi. They release spores. The ethnobotanist Terence McKenna has studied psilocybin mushrooms. He believes that their consumption planed an important role in the development of human cultures. The author also discusses mycoheterotrophs, which lack photosynthesis and depend on their fungi for their carbohydrates.