The Wonderful Mushroom

Some people fret over the mushrooms growing in their lawn, but there's no need to worry.

Mushrooms are a fascinating type of fungus, and the vast majority of them are neither poisonous nor destructive.

Well, they actually are destructive, but in a good way. The threadlike mycelium to which they're attached slowly but surely feed on and destroy decaying organic matter and rotting wood, making them very important players in the process of decomposition.

When they've consumed all the decaying organic matter, they die, but not before they've gotten a chance to continue the cycle: The fruiting body of the mushroom, the part visible above-ground, releases its spores into the wind to restart the process.