Dark Taxa and a Shoehorn

Sadly, not everything you discover in the researching of a book can be shoehorned in to the story.  Mushrooms and fungi have a role to play in my current work-in-progress Sky Girl, just not as central characters.  So here is a nod to some Fascinating Facts about Fungi from the BBC News which you will not find in the final version of the book ... 

1. Fungi are in a kingdom of their own but are closer to animals than plants
2. They have chemicals in their cell walls shared with lobsters and crabs
3. A fungus has been discovered capable of breaking down plastics in weeks rather than years
4. There is evidence to suggest that yeasts - a type of fungus - were being used to produce the alcoholic drink mead as long ago as 9,000 years ago
5. At least 350 species are consumed as foods including truffles, which can sell for thousands of dollars apiece, quorn, and those in marmite and cheese
6. Plastic car parts, synthetic rubber and lego are made using itaconic acid derived from a fungus
7. 216 species of fungi are thought to be hallucinogenic
8. Fungi are being used to turn crop waste into bioethanol
9. Products made from fungi can be used as replacements for polystyrene foam, leather and building materials
10. DNA studies show that there are thousands of different fungi in a single sample of soil, many of which are unknown and hidden - so-called "dark taxa"