Wild mushrooms grow in many ways, out of decaying debris, as parasites on living organisms and attached to living or recently dead organisms. Morels commonly grow attached to roots of plants, particularly apples, elms, oaks, and ash trees. This relationship is referred to as mycorrhizal or a fungus-root relationship. A mycorrhiza is a physical, beneficial relationship between the morel fungus and the tree’s roots. Both organisms benefit; neither is harmed; and each organism gives something to the other to help it grow better or faster. These stages occur underground and the mushroom collected is the end of sexual reproduction for the morel that releases spores that land on soil and start growing to make contact with tree roots. The morel fungus may grow for years connected to roots and never produce an edible mushroom. Often, if the tree dies, the fungus dies, too but before it does it produces spores in a fruiting body, the above ground mushroom, to move to another location as a spore and continue the life cycle. (Soon to be a fungus amonst us).
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