Mycology

Mycology is the study of fungi — organisms that belong to neither the plant nor animal kingdoms, that exist primarily as branching networks of threadlike cells called hyphae, and that constitute themselves through decomposition, symbiosis, and chemical signaling. Where animals move through environments and plants root into them, fungi grow through their substrates, digesting the world externally and absorbing it. Their primary body is not the mushroom — which is merely a reproductive structure — but the mycelium: a diffuse, branching network that can extend across vast distances, connecting organisms, redistributing nutrients, and mediating chemical communication between species.

Fungi are perhaps the most relational organisms on Earth. Mycelial networks physically embody the kind of relational structure that relationality identifies as ontologically primary. A mycorrhizal network does not simply connect pre-existing, independent trees — it constitutes an infrastructure of relation that shapes what those trees are and how the forest functions. The fungus exists as a web of relations before it exists as a bounded individual. This makes mycology a discipline where the relational framework is not an interpretive overlay but a description of the organism’s literal morphology. Fungi challenge our categories of individuality, agency, and organism-environment boundaries in ways that resonate with mereological questions about parts and wholes, with autopoietic accounts of self-production, and with biosemiotic attention to sign processes that cross species lines.

This module covers the scientific study of fungi — their biology, ecology, evolution, and the conceptual questions they raise. For the practical side of working with fungi — cultivation techniques, substrate preparation, and applied mushroom growing — see Domestic Mycology.

Sections

• Concepts — fungal cell biology, mycelial networks, symbiosis, and chemical ecology
• Terms — 24 terms covering structure, cell biology, reproduction, biochemistry, and symbiosis
• Topics — decomposition, nutrient cycling, reproduction, fungal intelligence, and taxonomy
• Curricula — four lessons from fungal fundamentals through biochemistry, ecology, and mycorrhizal networks