Suddenly, like in a fairytail, mushrooms appear under the bushes, in the grassy fields, in the rocky areas, in a soft layer of leaves in the woods. There can be just one on its own, or large crowded groups. Their colours and shapes liven up every bit of our country side. When I was a child, mushrooms were the magic elements of the woods. They captured the essence of the woods, as well as the shades and the smells. They were the silent inhabitants of a secret world that could make you feel intimidated, and sometimes even slightly fearful. The mushrooms were the pixies of the woods. I used to have my favourite "places of mushrooms", which were places unknown to everybody but me, where the pixies used to come back at the beginning of every autumn year after year just for me. In spite of not being fully aware, I somehow knew that "my" mushrooms were somehow linked to that place because of what was happening under the dark soil covered by dead leaves.

What we usually see during our walks in the woods and call "mushrooms", are actually the fruits (the carpophore or fruit-bearing body) of a "plant" made up by the mycelium, an interlacement of white filaments (the ife) that extend under the upper layer of the ground. Scientists classify the mushrooms into an independent Kingdom: not with the animals, nor with the vegetables. They are completely without chlorophyll and therefore are unable to perform the photosynthesis process typical of green plants. In order to find or to transform nutritional matters, the mushrooms need other organisms.

Their life is always strictly connected with the life of other living organisms, with whom the mushrooms set up some sort of "common" life such as saprophytism (when they grow on dead organisms like dead leaves or trunks), or parasitism (when they grow on and get their food from living organisms). Many types of mushrooms live in an more complicated type of symbiosis, the so-called mycorrhizal symbiosis, where also the host organisms (plants, trees, or other) are helped. It is therefore clear how important mushrooms are to keep any natural environment in correct equilibrium. They help in mineralizing the decaying organic matters, attacking and destroying dead organisms, helping the development of the vegetables that live in symbiosis with them.

Moulds, yeasts, and several other almost invisible species (micromycetus) belong to the Kingdom of mushrooms. Many species of mushrooms can be properly seen in the proper climatic conditions when their fruitful bodies develop, which contain the spore (i.e. the reproductive cells).

In Sardinia there are many species of mushrooms, but the "mycologic culture" is still limited. Only a few species are well known, picked and eaten on the Island. The foreign mushrooms are usually ignored or destroyed without any apparent reason. The mushroom harvest, which has been increased during the recent years, is still not subject to any regulation, which affects the few species known even more. Some woods are literally assaulted and suffer a remarkable impoverishment which reflects upon the entire bio-system. Unfortunately, our region cannot rely on a suitable regulation system. In other regions, one needs a proper permit to pick mushrooms, and there is a maximum amount of mushrooms per day that can be picked by each individual.

While we are waiting for a similar regulation to be introduced in Sardinia, we will try to give some advice. Let's try to transform the infamous "harvest raid" into an occasion to give a much closer look at the mushrooms we don't know, and whose names and taste we don't know. Let's leave them where they are, and let's try to enjoy the different shapes and colours, allowing them to carry on the important functions that make them invaluable for the life of the woods.

Also, we shouldn't destroy the unknown species, but we should learn about new ones, so that we can pick different mushrooms. We should use always proper baskets and not plastic bags, because the latter don't allow the mushrooms spore to reach the ground, which therefore reduces the chance of reproduction. Last but not least, let's try to pick only what we will be able to consume, and leave the mushrooms which are too young or too old where they are.

After having them classified and analyzed for their taste, the mushrooms become again the pixies, the ephemeral creatures of the woods. They should be always remembered as they are in their habitat, with their extraordinary shapes and splendid colors.