A fungus (plural: fungi) is a kind of living organism: yeasts, moulds and mushrooms are types of fungi. The fungi are a separate kingdom of living things, different from animals and plants.
Fungi have cells with nuclei. Their cell walls contain chitin, unlike the cell walls of plants, which contain cellulose. These and other differences show that the fungi form a single group of related organisms, called the Eumycota or Eumycetes. They share a common ancestor and are monophyletic group.
Their basic mode of life is saprophytic: a fungus breaks down dead organic matter around it, and uses it as food.
Fungi reproduce both sexually and asexually. Some fungi grow mushrooms: these are fruiting bodies. Under the cap there are gills; the gills bear spores that will disperse, and may develop into new fungi. Otherwise, fungi use a sporangium to bear asexual spores by mitosis, or sexual spores by meiosis. The spores are haploid.

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