Edit: Why do **some** mushrooms…
In: Biology
Mushrooms/ Fungi ‘eat’ decaying matter – especially fallen trees – dead shrubs – leaf litter the spores are falling on a rich food source. But they are small and the wind also blow them to nearby dead matter or either far away food sources –
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Gills underneath are a hidden trampoline. When spores pop off, they fall a little, hit the air, and bounce up and out for a surprise ride on the wind! It’s a confetti celebration for new baby mushrooms : )
Protection from rain I think and harsh winds. The gills need breezes but the fins regulate the rate – such efficiency of design. Beautiful
An answer I haven’t seen yet is UV protection. Direct sunlight irradiates cells, which can damage DNA. If that damaged DNA is in a reproductive part like a spore, the offspring can have trouble surviving. This is doubly important in some species of fungus with haploid spores, since they only have one of each chromosome. Diploid cells have matching pairs of chromosomes which act as backups to help survive this kind of damage.
With spores hidden under the cap, you reduce the damage caused by direct sunlight. This lets the mushrooms survive in environments with harsher sun.
Other people answered better than I, but spores are so light, they easily float in even the slightest breeze, with gravity bringing them out of the pores / gills themselves. Also some fungi *are* this way, such as puffballs. They get stepped on or disturbed in some way and they “poof” out their spores. Earthstars, Pilobolus, and Birds nest fungi all also shoot their spores up or out instead of down.
Spores are also spread in all manner of variety. Truffles are spread generally by pigs or squirrels thst dig then up, mycorrhizal fungi form symbiotic relationships with plant roots and spread their spores through the soil, bracket fungi (polypores) grow on wood and release their spores directly into the air, etc. There is also insect dispersal where some fungi form relationships with insects, such as the Cordyceps fungus, which infects insects and causes them to move to favorable locations for spore release.
Mushrooms are cool 🍄
Maybe to let the spores truly mature and it will detach itself once it is and be blown by air.
Others have answered the why, I just wanted to add that mushrooms with their gills above do show up every now and then in mushroom cultivation. However it’s usually just some mutation that occurs, and you’ll find one or two sometimes in a batch.
This can occur through excessive cloning of a culture.
Imagine you’re trying to have a big party with all your mushroom friends. You want to invite as many people as possible, right?
he top of the mushroom is like the entrance to the party. If the spores were growing there, they’d get blown away by the wind or eaten by animals before they even had a chance to spread out and find new friends.
By growing them on the underside (like the “dance floor”), the spores can stay nice and cozy until they’re ready to go out and party with other mushrooms. Plus, it’s easier for them to fall off in one direction, like onto some fresh compost or soil, where they can start a new party!
My uneducated observation would be that the gill down approach keeps the structures the most protected. The cap protects from falling debris, direct sunlight, and other things which might damage a relatively delicate/complex structure. I’ve even seen plenty of mushrooms that push their way out of the soil and end up with clods of dirt and pine needles sitting on top of their caps for some time.
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