# How Do Fungi Grow?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fungi-grow/492902>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 13, 2009, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fungi-grow/492902 "2009-04-13T00:57:16Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fungi-grow/492902/1 "2009-04-13T00:57:16Z")

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I happened to knock a piece of wood funus off a birch tree trunk. The thng is incredibly dry! Unlike vascular green plants, there seemed to be no fluid of any ind in these things. So how do they grow? How are nutrients transported through the plant?  
As I say, these things appear to have no sap of any time.

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**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fungi-grow/492902/2 "2009-04-13T04:36:12Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> … the majority of fungal species grow as multicellular filaments called hyphae forming a mycelium; some fungal species also grow as single cells. Sexual and asexual reproduction of the fungi is commonly via spores, often produced on specialized structures or in fruiting bodies. Some species have lost the ability to form reproductive structures, and propagate solely by vegetative growth. …  
> … most fungi are largely invisible to the naked eye, living for the most part in soil, dead matter, and as symbionts of plants, animals, or other fungi. …  
> … Some fungi become noticeable when fruiting, either as mushrooms or molds. …[RIGHT][CITE](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungi)[/RIGHT]

What your seeing isn’t the fungus it’s just the fruiting body.  
Fruiting bodies on the ground are more likely to rot, while the fruiting bodies on your birch tree have a much better chance of drying out instead.

CMC fnord!

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**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\
**Post date:** [April 13, 2009, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-do-fungi-grow/492902/3 "2009-04-13T06:49:19Z")

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The thing you knocked off is just the fruiting body of the fungus, an appendage to house and disperse spores. The actual life of the fungus is embodied in the mycelium, a network of fibrous structures. All these parts are made of filaments called hyphae, which are multicellular. While hyphae are 75% water, there is no circulating fluid; they transport nutrients cell-to-cell, which is why the permanent structures are filaments.