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

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

• 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