Claire Dignard, age 11, of Ottawa, Ont., Canada, for her question:

HOW CAN MUSHROOMS LIVE IN THE DARK?

All the green plants need sunlight because they use its energy to make food from air and water. Mushrooms are not green plants. They have none of the green chlorophyll needed to make plant food. So they do not need to take energy from sunlight. This is why they can live in the dark with no trouble at all. Actually, the major part of the mushroom plant never sees the light of day.

It is buried below the ground, where it feeds on materials created by the green plants, such as old buried tree stumps. The main plant is a mass of threads called the mycelium. When time comes to multiply, it sprouts up the chubby umbrellas we call mushrooms. They have tiny spore seedlets under their heads. The ripe spores blow away to start more mushroom plants growing in other places.