Toadstools

Doesn’t this look like something you’d find in the depths of the ocean?

But, in the ocean, they were not. Rather, they were perched on a pile of decomposing dirt (is that redundant?) in my backyard.

Oh the textures!

Like these, many mushrooms appear seemingly overnight. This phenomenon is the source of the common expression: to mushroom (expanding rapidly in size or scope). And, really, this is crazy. Similar to a zygote becoming a fetus overnight – an infant by morning. Or planting a pumpkin seed and waking up to a full blown squash the next day. Just how does fungi do it?

Though they pop up quickly, mushrooms don’t hang around all too long. The stem and cap part that we call the mushroom, referred to as the “fruiting body,” is quite short-lived compared to the rest of the organism. The real magic happens underground. While the fruiting body may be short-lived, the underlying mycelium (a thread-like structure) can be long-lived, as well as massive:

Is this the largest organism in the world? This 2,400-acre (9.7 km2) site in eastern Oregon had a contiguous growth of mycelium before logging roads cut through it. Estimated at 1,665 football fields in size and 2,200 years old, this one fungus has killed the forest above it several times over, and in so doing has built deeper soil layers that allow the growth of ever-larger stands of trees. Mushroom-forming forest fungi are unique in that their mycelial mats can achieve such massive proportions.
—Paul Stamets, Mycelium Running

This next one made me want to go inside and beat Super Mario all over again.