The issue is Fungi are everywhere, all the time, and without exception (even feeding in nuclear disasters). They predate most forms of life, majority are harmless or beneficial, and the genetics vary widely. For example, Yeasts are just about everywhere...
I would recommend Paul Stamets books for their accessibility, even if he is probably the weirdest eccentric of our time. Seriously weird dude, but an expert on Fungi taxonomy without question none the less.
Around this time of year we get Amanita muscaria popping up in the yard, and some very oddly behaved squirrels having a bad day.
Characterizing Paul Stamets as weird or eccentric seems a bit off. He's no more weird or eccentric than any other scientist I've met. He speaks openly about an experience he had with psychedelic mushrooms which he says cured his lifelong stuttering, which sent him down the mycological rabbit hole. He's worked extensively with the DoD researching antimicrobial properties of fungi, his publications look sound, and some of that work seems wildly beneficial for cancer treatment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7agK0nkiZpA
You probably need to read more of the works, as it gets pretty loopy at times. I was aware of the petrochemical site-remediation DoD work testing his guided evolutionary biology theories. =)
What's the Elon quote? "If you're not failing, you're not trying hard enough" If you're not considering ideas someone thinks are crazy, you're not thinking hard enough.
When I heard "Paul Stamets" and "Fungus" together, my mind went to star trek, I find that Stamets is inspired by a real-life mycologist of the same name is very cool reference by the ST writers.
Sci Fi is always about the present, but the dude certainly sounds like he is from another planet at times. It is good people are more aware of his work , even if fiction greatly underestimates how odd it is in real life =)
Actually, some varieties border on performance enhancers due to molecular structures similar to steroid hormones, and should have been banned by the Olympic committees.
Animals and plants are the youngest, fungi are significantly older, at least almost as old as the oldest multicellular life. "Most forms of life" might be an overstatement, still, depending on how you count.
My mistake, you're correct, fungi are much older than plants. Stupid of me to offer a correction without even a cursory search to confirm what I thought I knew.
I would recommend Paul Stamets books for their accessibility, even if he is probably the weirdest eccentric of our time. Seriously weird dude, but an expert on Fungi taxonomy without question none the less.
Around this time of year we get Amanita muscaria popping up in the yard, and some very oddly behaved squirrels having a bad day.