In 2011, Paul Stamets was the Keynote Speaker at the International Herbal Symposium in MA. I had not heard of him or his work, but his talk left a profound impact on me. A former logger, Stamets saw how slowly (if at all) land recovered after logging. His journey led him to studying mycology and how the fungal world can help to remediate landscapes.
Mycelium networks look similar to our nervous system. This is the fungal version of the internet and the interconnected web. You may enjoy eating the fruited bodies we call mushrooms, or not. However, the work that mycelia do is primary to us having plant species at all. Humans and other animals would be very different without the assistance of these beings.
Stamets goes into detail about the make up, history, and types of mycelia and their fruited bodies. He then goes on to talk about mycoremediation. His work is truly mind blowing. This is work whose time has more than come.
The book is easy to read and is really for anyone interested in non-chemical solutions. For those looking to grow mushrooms or understand their fruited body nutrition, there is a section for you too.
An additional side note, Paul Stamets and Dr. Steve Sheppard (Chair, Department of Entomology, Washington State University), and the Washington State Beekeepers Association are working together to find a solution for Colony Collapse Disorder in bees. It seems that some bees already go to fungi for their health. Please look into their research for more information.
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