Pop-up "Plants” (and the plant-like)

I am sure many of you have seen this occur - a mushroom pops up on your lawn!

Mushroom on my lawn / September 2015

Usually this occurs after some continuous rain. I was especially captivated by this mushroom as it was larger than those I normally see on my lawn. I do not know anything about species of mushrooms. I only know some basic facts.

• Mushrooms are not plants and do not have any vascular tissue (vein structures).
• Mushrooms are in Kingdom Fungi which is a diverse group ranging from single celled organisms (yeast which only survives in liquid) to large bracket fungi (found on sides of trees) and mushrooms like these.  (Mushroom classification source)
• I think the basic rule for eating mushrooms found in the wild is - never,  ever, ever eat them unless you are a well trained mycologist (one who studies fungi) specializing in edible mushrooms in the wild. 
• Mushrooms reproduce using spores (reproductive cell capable of giving rise to a new individual - directly or indirectly). 
• The structure above is a reproductive structure; when it opens up like this it is spreading spores. 
• Mushrooms will also grow from leafy wet piles in forested areas.

As I don’t know much about mushrooms, I have lots of questions and this is a good time to advocate for questioning. When one questions, more learning occurs as one wonders and thinks. For some questions I can hypothesize some answers.

• Since this structure spreads spores, why didn’t I see any more of this type of mushroom over the next day?
• How did a spore to grow this mushroom get here?
• How long will spores remain dormant?
• How did the different mushrooms/fungi get to Hawaii?

Please go to the NATURE - TRAVELING page (accessed in the sidebar) for another, very unique, “pop-up plant” I found on an Oregon trail.