Of the at least 2.5 million species of fungus thought to exist on Earth, scientists have described around 150,000—six percent
You can't walk very far through a forest in this part of the United States without stumbling upon a mushroom, an eruption from a vast fungal kingdom that all life depends on, but about which we know very little.
Some are tall and thin with a helmet top, others are great flourishes of brain-like folds; some seem like they should be sheltering fairies in a storybook.
Many look like they could be delicious in the hands of a skilled chef; others... decidedly not.
But the dozens of species that enthusiasts and experts collected on a recent morning represent just a tiny fraction of life that is neither flora nor fauna.
"Mushrooms are not plants," said Amy Honan, who teaches mycology and fungal ecology at Oregon University.