Observe the dilemma of the fungus: It is a plant, but it possesses no chlorophyll. While all other plants put

the sun's energy to work for them combining the nutrients of ground and air into the body structure, the

chlorophylless must look elsewhere for energy supply. It finds it in those other plants which, having

received their energy free from the sun, relinquish it at some point in their cycle either to animals (like us

humans) or to the fungi.

In this search for energy the fungus has become the earth's major source of rot and decay. Whereever you

see mold forming on a piece of bread, or a pile of leaves turning to compost, or a blown-down tree becoming

pulp on the ground, you are watching a fungus eating. Without fungus action the earth would be piled high

with the dead plant life of past centuries. In fact, certain plants which contain resins that are toxic to fungi

will last indefinitely; specimens of the redwood, for instance, can still be found resting on the forest floor

centuries after having been blown down

The passage is primarily concerned with: