Curious About Mushrooms

PODCAST 186: CURIOUS ABOUT MUSHROOMS

RELEASE DATE: SUNDAY, APRIL 24TH, 2022

D:  HELLO, AND WELCOME BACK TO THE CURIOUS KID PODCAST.  IT’S APRIL, AND WHERE WE LIVE IN NEW JERSEY, APRIL IS USUALLY VERY RAINY AND WET.  SOMETIMES, AFTER A SOAKING RAIN, OLIVIA WILL GO INTO THE YARD TO PLAY AND NOTICE SOMETHING GROWING OUT OF THE GROUND.  IT’S SOMETHING INTERESTING AND UNIQUE, AND WE’RE GOING TO LEARN ALL ABOUT IT TODAY.

O:  DOUBLE-MAILBAG!

D:  DOUBLE-MAILBAG!

“HELLO OLIVIA AND HER DADDY, MY NAME IS JUNIPER AND I’M ALMOST 7 YEARS OLD.  I LOVE YOUR SHOW AND I LISTEN TO IT ALL THE TIME IN THE CAR WITH MOMMY AND LITTLE BROTHER LAWSON.  MY FAVORITE EPISODE IS THE ONE ABOUT ROCKS.  COULD YOU GET CURIOUS ABOUT MUSHROOMS AND VOLCANOES FOR ME?

LOVE, JUNIPER AND LAWSON FROM SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA.”

“HI JACOB AND OLIVIA, WE LOVE YOUR SHOW!  THANK YOU FOR TEACHING US SO MANY NEW THINGS.  MY DAUGHTER, NINA, IS TEN YEARS OLD AND HER FAVORITE EPISODES ARE DIAPERS AND GLASS.  NINA WANTS TO STUDY MUSHROOMS WHEN SHE GROWS UP, AND SHE WOULD APPRECIATE IF YOU COULD DO A SHOW ABOUT MUSHROOMS.  

THANKS AND TAKE CARE, NINA AND HER MUM SHELLY FROM OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CANADA.”

O:  MUSHROOMS ARE AWESOME AND WE CAN’T WAIT TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THEM FOR JUNIPER, LAWSON, AND NINA.  

D:  I THINK WE ARE GOING TO LEARN SOME THINGS TODAY THAT MAY SURPRISE YOU ABOUT MUSHROOMS.  LET’S KICK IT OFF WITH AN AMAZING FACT FOR OUR QUESTION OF THE WEEK.  

O:  THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK IS, HOW BIG IS THE LARGEST LIVING ORGANISM IN THE WORLD?

D:  YOU MAY BE WONDERING WHY WE ARE ASKING ABOUT THE LARGEST LIVING ORGANISM IN AN EPISODE ABOUT MUSHROOMS.  WELL, IT’S BECAUSE THE LARGEST LIVING ORGANISM IS A MUSHROOM.  THAT’S RIGHT, MUSHROOMS ARE LIVING ORGANISMS, AND THE LARGEST ONE IS LOCATED IN OREGON.  IT’S A GIANT HONEY MUSHROOM.  CAN YOU GUESS HOW BIG IT IS?

O:  MUSHROOMS ARE NOT A FRUIT, AND THEY ARE ALSO NOT A VEGETABLE.  THEY ARE OFTEN CLASSIFIED AS A VEGETABLE, BUT THEY ARE DEFINITELY NOT A VEGETABLE.  A MUSHROOM IS A FUNGUS.

D:  FUNGI ARE LIVING THINGS.  THEY AREN’T PLANTS, AND THEY’RE NOT ANIMALS.  LIKE ME, MUSHROOMS ARE FUNGI.

O:  NICE DAD JOKE, DADDY.  BECAUSE MUSHROOMS GROW FROM THE GROUND, THEY ARE OFTEN MISTAKEN FOR PLANTS, BUT THEY ARE DIFFERENT BECAUSE MUSHROOMS DON’T NEED ANY SUNLIGHT TO GROW.  MANY MUSHROOMS ARE ACTUALLY GROWN INDOORS FOR THAT REASON.

D:  IF YOU LISTENED TO EPISODE 157, CURIOUS ABOUT PLANTS, YOU MAY REMEMBER THAT PLANTS MAKE THIER OWN FOOD FROM SUNLIGHT IN A NEAT PROCESS CALLED PHOTOSYNTHESIS.  MUSHROOMS DON’T NEED ANY SUNLIGHT AT ALL.  THEY CAN, AND OFTEN DO, GROW IN DARKNESS.  TO SAY THAT MUSHROOMS ARE NOT A PLANT IS AN UNDERSTATEMENT.  MUSHROOMS ARE ACTUALLY MORE CLOSELY RELATED TO HUMANS THAN THEY ARE TO PLANTS.

O:  AND, BECAUSE MUSHROOMS HAVE NO LEAVES, ROOTS, OR SEEDS, AND THEY DON’T NEED SUNLIGHT, THEY AREN’T A VEGETABLE.  

D:  EVEN THOUGH THAT IS CERTAINLY TRUE, THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE STILL CLASSIFIES MUSHROOMS AS VEGETABLES BECAUSE THEY HAVE LOTS OF THE SAME NUTRITIONAL BENEFITS THAT VEGETABLES DO.  

O:  SINCE WE KNOW THAT THE WAY MUSHROOMS GROW IS UNIQUE, LET’S LEARN MORE ABOUT THE PROCESS.

D:  WE LIVE SUPER CLOSE TO AN AREA WHERE ABOUT HALF OF THE MUSHROOMS PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES ARE GROWN, CHESTER COUNTY, PENNSYLVANIA.  

O:  BUT DON’T DRIVE AROUND CHESTER COUNTY LOOKING FOR BIG FIELDS OF MUSHROOMS, BECAUSE FARMERS GROW THEIR MUSHROOMS IN INDOOR MUSHROOM FARMS.  

D:  EVEN THOUGH SUNLIGHT ISN’T NECESSARY FOR MUSHROOM GROWTH, JUST LIKE PLANTS (AND ANIMALS), MUSHROOMS REQUIRE LOTS OF WATER.  IN FACT, MUSHROOMS ARE MOSTLY WATER, ABOUT 92% WATER.  

O:  IN ORDER TO UNDERSTAND HOW MUSHROOMS GROW, IT HELPS TO KNOW THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF A MUSHROOM.  MANY OF THE MOST COMMON MUSHROOMS LOOK LIKE AN UMBRELLA.  THE TOP OF THE UMBRELLA, THE PART THAT WOULD SHIELD YOU FROM THE RAIN OR SUN, IS CALLED THE CAP.  THAT MAKES SENSE.

D:  AND THEN THE LONG PART THAT ATTACHES TO THE GROUND IS CALLED A STALK.  

O:  IF YOU TURN A MUSHROOM UPSIDE DOWN AND LOOK UNDER THE CAP, YOU WILL SEE THESE THINGS THAT LOOK LIKE DIVIDERS THAT ARE ACTUALLY CALLED GILLS.

D:  AND THE GILLS CONTAIN MICROSCOPIC, TOO SMALL TO SEE, SPORES.  DEPENDING ON THE TYPE OF MUSHROOM, IT CAN CONTAIN THOUSANDS, OR EVEN MILLIONS OR BILLIONS, OF SPORES.

O:  WHEN THE SPORES FALL AND GET PLANTED INTO THE GROUND, THE SAME WAY THAT SEEDS GET PLANTED, A FUNGUS GROWS.  

D:  AND THE FUNGUS THAT GROWS UNDERGROUND IS CALLED MYCELIUM.  AFTER ABOUT 2 WEEKS, THE MYCELIUM REACHES THE GROUND SURFACE.  FROM THAT POINT, A MUSHROOM GROWS QUICKLY OUT OF THE GROUND.

O:  A MUSHROOM CAN DOUBLE IN SIZE IN 24 HOURS.  HERE’S THE SHOCKING THING.  EVEN AS A MUSHROOM IS GROWING OUT THE GROUND, MOST OF THE FUNGUS IS ACTUALLY GROWING UNDERGROUND WHERE YOU CAN’T SEE IT.  

D:  AND, IF THERE’S ONE THING YOU LEARN IN THIS EPISODE, LET IT BE THIS.  IF YOU EVER SEE A MUSHROOM GROWING IN THE WILD, DO NOT EAT IT.  MANY MUSHROOMS ARE POISONOUS AND CAN MAKE YOU VERY, VERY SICK.      

O:  THERE ARE OVER 10,000 TYPES OF MUSHROOMS OUT THERE.  MANY OF THEM ARE SAFE TO EAT, SOME OF THEM COULD BE VERY DANGEROUS IF EATEN, AND SOME MUSHROOMS ARE JUST PLAIN WEIRD.

D:  THERE IS A MUSHROOM CALLED LION’S MANE THAT IS REALLY STRINGY AND WHITE, AND KIND OF RESEMBLES A MOP.  LION’S MANE IS ACTUALLY EDIBLE.  

O:  THERE IS A MUSHROOM CALLED BLEEDING TOOTH, THAT KIND OF LOOKS LIKE A BLEEDING TOOTH.  WE DON’T THINK THEY ARE POISONOUS, BUT YOU MAY WANT TO STAY AWAY BECAUSE THEY ARE EXTREMELY BITTER.  

D:  THERE IS A MUSHROOM CALLED THE BRAIN MUSHROOM THAT RESEMBLES A BRAIN.  STRANGE THING ABOUT THE BRAIN MUSHROOM.  IF EATEN RAW, IT IS VERY VERY DANGEROUS.  IF COOKED PROPERLY, IT IS SAFE TO EAT.  

O:  EVEN THOUGH THERE ARE MUSHROOMS YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY AVOID, EATING THE RIGHT MUSHROOMS HAS LOTS OF HEALTH BENEFITS.

D:  THEY DON’T HAVE LOTS OF CALORIES OR SODIUM.  THEY ALSO DON’T HAVE ANY FAT OR CHOLESTEROL.  THEY ARE RICH IN ANTIOXIDANTS THAT HELP BOOST YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM.  THEY ALSO HAVE LOTS OF BETA GLUCAN, WHICH HELPS FIGHT OFF HEART DISEASE.  THEY ARE ALSO A GOOD SOURCE OF B VITAMINS, COPPER, AND POTASSIUM.  OH, ONE OTHER THING, MUSHROOMS ARE DELICIOUS.  

O:  AND HERE’S AN INTERESTING FACT ABOUT MUSHROOMS FOR VIDEO GAME LOVERS LIKE ME.  MUSHROOMS CAN ALSO GO BY THE NAME TOADSTOOLS.

D:  THEY CAN BE USED INTERCHANGEABLY, ALTHOUGH IT IS COMMON FOR PEOPLE TO REFER TO EDIBLE MUSHROOMS AS MUSHROOMS, AND INEDIBLE, OR POISONOUS MUSHROOMS AS TOADSTOOLS.  

O:  THE INSPIRATION FOR THE CHARACTER TOAD IN THE MARIO GAMES WAS TOADSTOOLS, OR MUSHROOMS.

D:  TOAD FROM THE MARIO GAMES LOOKS A WHOLE LOT LIKE A FUNGUS CALLED AMANITA MUSCARIA.  LIKE THE TOP OF TOAD, THE CAP OF THE AMANITA MUSCARIA IS RED WITH WHITE DOTS.  

ALRIGHT OLIVIA, LET’S ANSWER THE QUESTION OF THE WEEK.  THERE IS AN OBSCENELY BIG MUSHROOM IN OREGON THAT IS CONSIDERED THE LARGEST LIVING ORGANISM.  HOW BIG IS IT?

O:  IT COVERS 2,200 ACRES.  IT’S ABOUT THREE AND A HALF MILES ACROSS AND 3 FEET DEEP INTO THE GROUND.  

D:  HOLY MOLY, THAT’S A BIG SHROOM.  WELL, THAT’S A WRAP FOR THIS WEEK’S EPISODE.

O:  186 - MUSHROOMS.

D:  GREAT JOB OLIVIA, AND GREAT JOB TO JUNIPER, LAWSON, AND NINA FOR THE SPORE-TASTIC EPISODE TOPIC SUGGESTION.  BEFORE WE GO, WE HAVE SOME VERY SPECIAL PEOPLE TO THANK.

O:  THANK YOU TO OUR NEWEST PATREON SUPPORTERS, LUCY F. AND JAMES T.

D:  A BIG, BIG THANKS TO OUR NEWEST SUPPORTERS.  YOUR SUPPORT MEANS THE WORLD TO US.  

O:  WE ALSO WANT TO THANK USERNAME AMOHOOO FROM AUSTRALIA FOR THE 5 STAR REVIEW.

D:  IT SAYS “THIS PODCAST IS GREAT, I LISTEN TO IT EVERY DAY AND I REALLY ENJOY IT.  CAN’T WAIT FOR MORE!”  IF YOU WANT MORE, YOU ARE GOING TO GET MORE.  WE HOPE ALL OF YOU FUNGIS AND FUNGIRLS COME BACK NEXT WEEK WHEN WE WILL GET CURIOUS ABOUT GUITARS FOR LISTENERS IN AUSTRALIA, INDIA, AND THE UNITED STATES.  AS ALWAYS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR LISTENING AND GETTING CURIOUS WITH US.