Mushrooms, in the view of modern biologists, are a separate kingdom of wildlife on a par with the kingdom of plants and the kingdom of animals. That is, mushrooms are not plants, as scientists previously thought . What we used to call a mushroom - whether it's a hat on the leg, like a raw-washer or a boar, a raincoat ball or a "knob" of a troutnik - is a fruit body. It is there (or there) that the spores are formed, which are necessary for the fungus to reproduce .. In the soil or wood (this is called a substrate) there is a fungus - the vegetative body of the fungus .. Its task is to provide nutrition and breathing, distribution on the substrate (for example, in the soil). The fungus consists of the thinnest branching threads and is almost the same in different fungi. The shapes of fruit bodies are unusually diverse. There are cap mushrooms, mushrooms, glasses, bush mushrooms (hornies), balls and maces (raincoats). Hat mushrooms are tubular and plated. The tubes and plates are clearly visible on the inside of the hat. On the surface of the tubes and plates develop spores. When the fungus matures, the spores fall asleep. They give rise to new fungi. In the soil, among the fallen leaves and even in the water, there are many microscopic fungi (they are so small that they are visible only in a microscope). But in our book we will talk only about macroscopic fungi, that is, those visible to the naked eye. Among them are giants and dwarfs. From this book you will learn about edible and poisonous mushrooms (and how to distinguish them), as well as those that are simply interesting for their unusual appearance.