The main mushroom Mario meets in his quest to save the princess is the red and white variety which looks like the fly agaric mushroom.
When Mario touches this mushroom, he grows bigger, can break certain blocks and withstand more damage from enemies.
A green and white mushroom gives players an extra life in the game, and a drill mushroom lets players transform into Drill Mario to help them burrow into different terrains.
A purple mushroom, however, is poisonous to Mario.
And a whole population in Super Mario games are called Toads (shortform for toadstool).
Other Horticulture Products
Throughout his journey, Mario encounters multiple fruits and vegetables.
In Super Mario Bros. 2, for example, players can pull turnips, beets, onions, and radishes out of the ground to throw them at enemies.
Mario’s dinosaur companion, Yoshi, eats the pineapples, pears, coconuts, bananas and other fruits within the Mushroom Kingdom.
And players of Mario Kart know the havoc a banana can cause on the racetrack.
Flowers are also important for Mario.
The Fire Flower, for example, lets the hero shoot fireballs. And the Boomerang Flower turns Mario into a boomerang.
Princess Peach
The reason Mario traverses these dangerous levels and battles the enemies he does is to be reunited with Princess Peach, formerly known as Princess Toadstool.
One theory behind Peach’s name is that it came from Japanese peaches, which are pink in color compared to the orange peaches in North America.
Birdo
Players encounter Birdo for the first time in Super Mario Bros. 2.
This pink dinosaur-like creature wears a hairbow and can fire eggs from its mouth.
Honey Queen
Appearing in multiple games in the Mario franchise, this queen rules over the galaxies of Honeyhive, Honeybloom, and Honeyhop.
Mario first sees the queen in Super Mario Galaxy, where she tasks the hero with stopping her terrible itch.
Livestock
In Mario Kart 64 for the Nintendo 64, one of the racetracks players drive through is called Moo Moo Farm.
Wandering around the farm are cows, known in the game as Moo Moos.
Horses appear in multiple Mario titles to help players get from one point to another and participate in equestrian events.
Pigs also appear in Mario games.
Blizzard Midbus, for example, can roll on a big snowball with a bomb lodged inside it.
And Mr. Hoggle runs a hot dog stand.
Chickens are in some games too.
Cluckbooms in Super Mario Galaxy are aggressive and explosive.