Nutrition
photo by Peter Fenda on flickr.com (same photo as in the title banner)
L. pyriforme is, like all fungi, heterotrophic which means it is unable to produce its
own energy, thus it must consume organic matter.
Since it is known to consume dead, composing material it
is also considered to be saprotrophic.
Interestingly, since many of the habitats of these fungi
include conifer-dominated forests and other heavily wooded
areas, these fungi are also able to consume pollen from these
trees as an additional source of nutrients (Hutchinson et al.,
1997).
Other members of the
Agaricale order obtain nutrients through interactions
with other organisms such as mycorrhizae with plant roots and
lichens with photosynthetic bacteria.
More on this subject in the
association page.
