A Huge Stump-Mushroom

As we walked today towards the playground, we noticed in the grass right next to the side-walk a plate-size mushroom! We had seen mushrooms in the forest before, but, strangely, this one had made its home right in the middle of the city. It was 'sitting' comfortably at the side of an old tree-stump. We couldn't help but take a closer look at it.

Did you know that mushroom is not a plant but a fungus? If plants use nutrients and sunlight to get their food and stay alive, then fungi (plural of fungus) take food from their surroundings - this is how they are different. Mushrooms do it by breaking down material into basic nutrients. This is exactly why wild mushrooms usually sprout from old leaves or damp old logs. The fungi is breaking down the dead material to use as food. Because fungi decompose (or break down) things, they are also called decomposers. So here is the answer to why the mushroom we saw was so comfortably growing directly on that old stump! And, if you look carefully enough, you will see on the downside of our mushroom a small snail, who LOVES to eat mushrooms. :)