# Plants Talk To Each Other Using An Internet Of Fungus

- Link: https://rd2.co.nz/plants-talk-to-each-other-using-an-internet-of-fungus/
- Published: 2018-08-06T05:37:32+00:00
- Author: Molly Callaghan

Hidden under your feet is an information superhighway that allows plants to communicate
and help each other out. It’s made of fungi –
 By Nic Fleming 11 November 2014 It’s
an information superhighway that speeds up interactions between a large, diverse
population of individuals. It allows individuals who may be widely separated to 
communicate and help each other out. But it also allows them to commit new forms
of crime. No, we’re not talking about the internet, we’re talking about fungi. While
mushrooms might be the most familiar part of a fungus, most of their bodies are 
made up of a mass of thin threads, known as a mycelium. We now know that these threads
act as a kind of underground internet, linking the roots of different plants. That
tree in your garden is probably hooked up to a bush several metres away, thanks 
to mycelia. The more we learn about these underground networks, the more our ideas
about plants have to change. They aren’t just sitting there quietly growing. By 
linking to the fungal network they can help out their neighbours by sharing nutrients
and information – or sabotage unwelcome plants by spreading toxic chemicals through
the network. This “wood wide web”, it turns out, even has its own version of cybercrime.

 D52RCW Branching threads of fungus mycelium in organic soil

Read More …..
 http://www.bbc.com/earth/story/20141111-plants-have-a-hidden-internet