Book 9, Question 95
Why Are Mushrooms Neither Fruits Nor Veggies Exactly?
Mushrooms are not exactly fruits or vegetables because they are fungi! Fungi are their own kingdom of life, separate from plants and animals. We cook mushrooms like produce, but their biology is different, and they are closer to animals than plants.
More fun facts
- Fungi are neither plants nor animals.
- Mushrooms are not plants because they cannot make their own food with sunlight the way plants do.
- The mushroom we see is like the fruit of the fungus. It is the part that spreads spores.
- Mushrooms often grow with plants, attached to a tree or sprouting from a rotting log.
- Vegetables are the edible parts of plants, while fruits grow from a plant's flowers.
- The word fruit comes from Latin for 'to enjoy,' and vegetable comes from a Latin word about growing.
Sources: National Geographic, National Park Service, BBC, National Geographic
Questions kids ask
What are spores?
Tiny cells that fungi release to start new fungi, a bit like seeds.