The Fungi Kingdom includes mushrooms, moulds, mildews, and yeasts. Unlike plants, they can't make their own food from sunlight, although they're very good at absorbing nutrients from their surroundings. They can grow almost anywhere, especially in damp places.

Like animals, plants, and protists, fungi are eukaryotes, whose cells have a nucleus and other membrane-bound organelles. Like plants, their cells have a cell wall, but instead of cellulose, they're made with a substance called chitin, the same thing that insects' shells are made of.

Major Divisions (groups)	Description	Masks	Approx. # of species
Ascomycota	These are the "sac fungi," and most of them are actually shaped like little sacks. You're probably familiar with lots of them without even realizing it! The black mildew that might be growing in your loo right now, the yeast that bakers use to make bread rise, and the penicillin used by doctors as an antibiotic are all examples of this phylum. Another one you might have heard of is the truffle, the fanciest fungus of all, and probably the priciest!		30,000
Zygomycota	Most of what we call "mould" belongs to this phylum. Outside, it usually lives in the soil, but it can grow anywhere there's decaying plant or animal matter. You know the stuff — it's fuzzy-looking, and it's usually a black, white, or grey colour. You've probably seen it on that sandwich in the fridge you forgot about, or that satsuma at the very bottom of the fruit bowl, yuck!		900
Basidiomycota	This phylum, the "club fungi," includes the mushrooms and puffballs, the things most people think of as fungi. The mushrooms you have with your breakfast, and most of the wild mushrooms that grow in the woods are club fungi. Some of the wild ones may taste good, but give them a miss if you're not an expert at identifying them— some of them are unbelievably poisonous!		30,000
Chytridiomycota	The chytrids, or "little pot fungi," are a phylum of fungus which live in fresh and saltwater environments. The oldest fungal fossils we've found are a lot like chytrids, so scientists study them to find out what the first fungi may have been like.		25,000