Fungus vs. Mushroom — What's the Difference?

A spore-producing organism.

Often edible and used in cooking.

A member of the Fungi kingdom.

Can be wild or cultivated.

An organism that feeds on organic matter.

Varies in shape, size, and color.

Includes yeasts, molds, and mushrooms.

A mushroom or toadstool is the fleshy, spore-bearing fruiting body of a fungus, typically produced above ground, on soil, or on its food source. The standard for the name "mushroom" is the cultivated white button mushroom, Agaricus bisporus; hence the word "mushroom" is most often applied to those fungi (Basidiomycota, Agaricomycetes) that have a stem (stipe), a cap (pileus), and gills (lamellae, sing.

Can be symbiotic or pathogenic.

Any of various fungi that produce a fleshy fruiting body, especially one consisting of a stalk with an umbrella-shaped cap.

A fungus (plural: fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from the other eukaryotic kingdoms, those being Plantae, Animalia, Protozoa, and Chromista.

Any of such fungi that are edible, especially the widely cultivated species Agaricus bisporus, which includes the button, cremini, and portobello mushrooms.

Any of numerous spore-producing eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Fungi, which lack chlorophyll and vascular tissue and range in form from a single cell to a mass of branched filamentous hyphae that often produce specialized fruiting bodies. The kingdom includes the yeasts, smuts, rusts, mushrooms, and many molds, excluding the slime molds and the water molds.

The usually aboveground fruiting body of any of such fungi.

(mycology) Any member of the kingdom Fungi; a eukaryotic organism typically having chitin cell walls but no chlorophyll or plastids. Fungi may be unicellular or multicellular.

One of these fruiting bodies that produce hallucinations when ingested. Also called magic mushroom.

A spongy, abnormal excrescence, such as excessive granulation tissue formed in a wound.

Something shaped like one of these fungi.

Any one of the Fungi, a large and very complex group of thallophytes of low organization, - the molds, mildews, rusts, smuts, mushrooms, toadstools, puff balls, and the allies of each. See fungi.

To multiply, grow, or expand rapidly

A spongy, morbid growth or granulation in animal bodies, as the proud flesh of wounds.

To swell or spread out into a shape similar to a mushroom.

A parasitic plant lacking chlorophyll and leaves and true stems and roots and reproducing by spores

To collect wild mushrooms.

Relating to, consisting of, or containing mushrooms

Resembling mushrooms in rapidity of growth or evanescence

Any of the fleshy fruiting bodies of fungi typically produced above ground on soil or on their food sources (such as decaying wood).

A fungus producing such fruiting bodies.

Champignon or Agaricus bisporus, the mushroom species most commonly used in cooking.

Any of the mushroom-shaped pegs in bar billiards.

(architecture) A concrete column with a thickened portion at the top, used to support a slab.

One who rises suddenly from a low condition in life; an upstart.

(figurative) Something that grows very quickly or seems to appear suddenly.

Ellipsis of mushroom cloud

Having characteristics like those of a mushroom, for example in shape or appearance, speed of growth, or texture.

To grow quickly to a large size.

To gather mushrooms.

To form the shape of a mushroom.

To form the shape of a mushroom when striking a soft target.

An edible fungus (Agaricus campestris), having a white stalk which bears a convex or oven flattish expanded portion called the pileus. This is whitish and silky or somewhat scaly above, and bears on the under side radiating gills which are at first flesh-colored, but gradually become brown. The plant grows in rich pastures and is proverbial for rapidity of growth and shortness of duration. It has a pleasant smell, and is largely used as food. It is also cultivated from spawn.

One who rises suddenly from a low condition in life; an upstart.

Of or pertaining to mushrooms; as, mushroom catchup.

Resembling mushrooms in rapidity of growth and shortness of duration; short-lived; ephemerial; as, mushroom cities.

To grow or expand rapidly.

To grow so much and so rapidly as to change qualitatively; used with into; as, a minor border skirmish mushroomed into a full-blown war.

Common name for an edible agaric (contrasting with the inedible toadstool)

Any of various fleshy fungi of the subdivision Basidiomycota consisting of a cap at the end of a stem arising from an underground mycelium

A large cloud of rubble and dust shaped like a mushroom and rising into the sky after an explosion (especially of a nuclear bomb)

Fleshy body of any of numerous edible fungi

Pick or gather mushrooms;

Grow and spread fast;

The fruiting body of a fungus.

A reproductive structure producing spores.

No, while some mushrooms are edible, others are poisonous and can be very dangerous.

A fungus can refer to any member of the fungal kingdom, while a mushroom specifically refers to the fruiting body of certain fungi.

A mushroom is the fruiting body of certain types of fungi, often edible and used in cooking.

A fungus is a spore-producing organism that belongs to its own kingdom, separate from plants and animals.

No, fungi are not plants; they belong to a separate kingdom of their own.

A fungal infection occurs when a fungus overgrows in or on the body, like athlete's foot.

Yes, some mushrooms have medicinal properties and are used in traditional and modern medicine.

Many fungi reproduce by releasing spores, which can grow into new organisms.

Not all fungi cause disease; many are beneficial decomposers or have symbiotic relationships with plants.

Yes, you can grow certain types of mushrooms at home with the right conditions and equipment.

Edible mushrooms should only be identified by an expert due to the risk of poisonous look-alikes.

Fungi typically thrive in moist, dark environments with abundant organic material.

Individual mushroom spores are microscopic and not visible to the naked eye.

Mycology is the scientific study of fungi, including mushrooms.

Fungi play a critical role in ecosystems by decomposing organic matter and cycling nutrients.