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Fungi

From: A Dictionary of Plant Sciences | Date: 1998 | Author: | Copyright information

Fungi One of the taxonomic kingdoms, comprising eukaryotic, non-photosynthetic organisms, which obtain nutrients by the absorption of organic compounds from their surroundings. Fungi usually have chitin-containing cell walls and may be unicellular, filamentous (mycelial), or plasmodial. They may live saprotrophically, symbiotically, parasitically, etc. Some can cause disease in plants or animals, including humans. Distribution is cosmopolitan. As fungi generally lack hard parts, they are rarely found as fossils, but possible thread-like representatives have been found in Precambrian rocks. They probably left the sea about 400 million years ago, when the first plants colonized the land.

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MICHAEL ALLABY. "Fungi." A Dictionary of Plant Sciences. 1998. Encyclopedia.com. 4 Dec. 2008 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

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