Mushrooms comprise an extremely abundant and diverse world of fungi.
They are something special in the living world, being neither plant nor
animal. Belonging to a kingdom of their own, called Myceteae, all mushrooms
are heterotrophic, meaning they cannot make their own food. Instead, they
absorb nutrients from other sources of organic carbon such as complex
organic polymers like cellulose, which get degraded by extracellular enzymes
secreted by mushrooms. Taxonomically, mushrooms can be classified into
two different categories: Basidiomycetes, which comprise many of the
well-known genera, and Ascomycetes.
