Table of Contents
What are Wild Mushrooms?
Wild Mushrooms are a type of Fungi plant that are the fruits of Fungi webs underground, that sprout out of the ground under the right conditions and are usually large enough to be seen. Wild mushrooms are a specie of Fungi. Wild Mushrooms are the fruiting body of Fungi which is produced on feeding from a food source or a bank of nutrients. Mushrooms are also known as Toadstool because of their appearance which looks like a Stool. Mushrooms are fleshy and spore bearing and they are also mostly found in the Wild hence their name Wild Mushrooms.
Mycologists are people who specialize in studying Fungi e.g Mushrooms and identifying the toxic ones from the non toxic ones. Mushrooms are useful for several purposes ranging from culinary uses, to medicinal purposes..
The popular Mushroom that most people know has a stem, a cap and gills on the cap. This picture of Wild Mushrooms that most people have in their heads is actually just a type of Mushroom’s morphology. The White button Wild Mushroom is the mushroom which has this Toadstool figure. Not all Wild Mushrooms have that figure.
Wild Mushrooms are of so many different types that one would need the help of an experienced Wild Mushroom Forager to know the healthy or non-toxic mushrooms from the toxic ones.
Wild Mushrooms are usually foraged for. They don’t just sprout out of anywhere but they are especially common in the fields, the woods, especially after the rain has showered the ground. Wild Mushrooms after the rain or mist, grow out of the ground in numerous numbers taking different shapes and forms.
Growth of Wild Mushrooms.
Mushrooms in the Wild grow very quickly under the right conditions. They are even rumoured to grow out fully overnight, which is an extremely fast growth rate for a plant! But really, Wild Mushrooms take days to grow out or completely pop up. But some Wild Mushrooms like Agaricus bitorquis, do expand overnight to full size.
Wild Mushrooms are not all nutritional. Some Wild Mushrooms are nutritional while some other ones are downright poisonous. Examples of an edible and nutritional Wild Mushroom is the Brown Italian Mushroom called Cremini. This popular type of Wild Mushroom has different percentages of nutrients like Carbohydrates, Vitamins like Vitamin B2, B1, B3, B5, Vitamin C, Vitamin D, Fats, Proteins, minerals and so on. It is obviously tightly packed with nutrients. This makes Cremini a very healthy and edible Wild Mushroom that is healthy for consumption. But a few species of the Wild Mushrooms should not be eaten. It is important to be 100% sure before one decides to cook a Wild Mushroom plucked from the wild. You should be totally certain about the identification methods because some toxic Mushrooms can resemble healthy Mushrooms in terms of looks.
Where do Wild Mushrooms grow most in the world?
Mushrooms grow mostly in China, North America, United States of America, Poland, France and so on. In the year 2000, France, Poland, USA, Netherlands and China became the largest producers of Wild Mushrooms in the world. In these five countries, edible Wild Mushrooms are commercially cultivated on a large scale.
Edible Mushrooms.
You can buy your edible Wild Mushrooms from a supermarket store. The common Mushroom that is the White Button Mushroom is around in a lot of stores and is purchased frequently by Mushroom Recipe lovers. But other edible Wild Mushrooms exist and have been pushed to the side! Apart from White Button Mushroom, other edible Wild Mushrooms are Cremini, Chanterelle, Portobello Wild Mushroom, Morels, Shiitake, Button Mushroom, Porcini, Oyster, Eroki and so on. These Mushrooms are also very edible just like the White Button Wild Mushroom. So, be sure to add these new Mushrooms to spice things up in your kitchen!
Uses of Wild Mushrooms.
Many Wild Mushrooms are used for many several purposes. They include;
1. An obvious use of Wild Mushrooms is for culinary purposes.
Yes, like it is very well known, Mushrooms are very useful for edibleness. They can be used to remove hunger in people. Several Wild Mushrooms are useful to fill up the stomach. When cooked, some edible mushrooms are also flavory. An example is the Cremini Wild Mushroom. It has a peppery flavour and tastes great when grilled.
2. Another use of Wild Mushrooms is for medicinal purposes.
Yes, in parts of China, healers use the power of the psychoactive properties that Wild Mushrooms have to heal physical ailments and mental problems. Some type of Mushroom called “Magic Mushrooms” have been confirmed to help in inducing mystical/spiritual experiences.
3. Some Wild Mushrooms also serve as Dye for colouring wools and textiles. Mushrooms were used before modern times to dye textiles before the advent of synthetic dyes.
We hope we have done enough justice to this topic of Wild Mushrooms. We hope you learnt what you were looking for from the article. Mushrooms, edible ones are very useful to humanity. They are our Fungi friends!
