Mushrooms and conifers at first glance are quite different from one another, but if you look closer, you can find that they are also similar.

The most obvious difference is their size. Mushrooms which are a type of fungi, are only a few inches tall while conifers which are trees can be as tall as 370 feet.

Conifers are hard, solid and rough while mushrooms are soft, spongy and smooth. Mushrooms can be almost any color, but they are never green because they do not contain chlorophyll. Conifers have brownish roots, trunks and branches and green leaves or needles.

Mushrooms and conifers are similar in that they both have parts holding them in place (roots for conifers and mycelium for mushrooms), parts holding them upright (trunks for conifers and stems for mushrooms) and parts at the top for reproduction (branches, cones and seeds for conifers and a cap, gills and spores for mushrooms).

The roots of the conifer and the mycelium of the mushroom are similar in that they both don’t grow very deep in comparison to their height. Also, you would think that conifers would have longer roots than the mycelium of a mushroom because conifers are so large, but mycelium can actually be hundreds of feet long. The differences between mycelium and conifer roots are that conifer roots are strong, thick and hard to break, while mycelium are very thin, soft and easy to break.

The trunk of a conifer is made up of a hard, solid core of wood and a hard coating of bark. Every year a new layer of wood grows just inside the bark, making the trunk of the tree larger in diameter with each passing year. A mushroom stem is made up of an outer cell wall and inner soft, stringy vertical parts called hyphae.

The tops of conifers are made up of branches that come off of the trunk. Smaller branches come off of the larger branches and then leaves or needles come off of each branch. Cones also grow on the branches. Inside the cones are seeds. The cones fall from the branches and the seeds fall out and begin to grow in the soil underneath the tree. The tops of mushrooms are made up of a dome-shaped cap with gills on the underside. Between the gills, spores are created, which drop from the mushroom and get blown by the wind. They land and make more mushrooms.

A few types of mushrooms like to grow on living plants, but most mushrooms like to grow on dead, decaying plants and on animal manure. They get their nutrients through their mycelium from whatever they are growing on.

Mushrooms help the environment by breaking down dead plants, which in turn feeds the soil and makes room for new plants. The mushrooms like it to be moist and shady where they grow so they don’t get dried out.

Slugs, turtles, squirrels and humans are known to eat mushrooms. Some mushrooms can be deadly or can make you very sick. Some are fine to eat and are actually healthy. You should never eat a mushroom unless you are positive that you know what kind it is.

Let’s move on to conifers now. Conifer means cone-bearing. So conifers are trees that bear cones. The conifer tree has a main trunk that extends vertically from the ground up into the air. Their trunks are very hard compared to a soft mushroom stem. Out from the main trunk of the tree, many branches grow horizontally. On these horizontal branches, the conifer produces cones and leaves. At the base of the trunk roots grow under the soil. These roots keep the tree from falling over and they help bring water up into the trunk, branches and leaves of the tree.

The cones contain seeds. The cones are a type of protector for their seeds. The seed cones are cone-shaped and can be long and skinny or short and fat. They can be as small as a grape or as large as a football.

The cones of the conifers fall onto the ground and the seeds get buried in the soil at the foot of the tree. The seeds eventually sprout and tiny conifer trees begin to grow at the base of the main tree. Eventually an entire forest will grow in this way.

Full-grown conifers are mostly about 50’-300’ tall. There are many different types of conifers. Some are tall and thin and some are short and fat.

Humans cut down trees and use the wood for building houses, fences and other things. Many forest animals, including squirrels and birds live in the branches of conifers. When a conifer falls down and begins to decay, small animals will make homes inside the fallen tree trunk and fungus and mushrooms will begin to grow on the tree and break it down.

So we see in the end that there is a relationship that develops between the conifer and the mushroom. The mushrooms find shade to grow under the branches of the conifer, and when the conifer dies, the mushrooms feed on it and help to create healthy soil for the new conifer trees to grow.

Hopefully this has helped you learn a lot about mushrooms and conifers.