A mushroom (or toadstool) is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground on soil or on its food source.

Quotes

• Down in a valley, by a forest side,
  Near where the crystal Thames rolls on her waves,
  I saw a mushroom stand in haughty pride,
  As if the lillies grew to be his slaves;
  The gentle daisy, with her silver crown,
  Worn in the breast of many a shepherd’s lass;
  The humble violet, that lowly down,
  Salutes the gay nymphs as they trimly pass;
  Those, with a many more, methought complain’d
  That Nature should those needless things produce,
  Which not alone the Sun from others gain’d,
  But turn it wholely to their proper use:
    I could not choose but grieve, that Nature made
    Such glorious flowers to live in such a shade.
  • William Browne, "The Mushroom"

• If you think about stories like Alice in Wonderland or other types of fairy tales, mushrooms always seem to have a kind of mysterious power.
  • Shigeru Miyamoto, quoted in Laura Sydell, "The Legendary Mr. Miyamoto, Father Of Mario And Donkey Kong", NPR (June 19, 2015)

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Mushroom on Wikipedia