Crossword Genius

Amusing American chap, we hear, serving mushrooms (5)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

fungi

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'mushrooms' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'amusing american chap we hear' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'amusing' could be 'fun' (synonyms) and 'fun' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'gi' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't understand.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

'serving' acts as a link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for fungi that I've seen before include "Plants like mushrooms and toadstools" , "woodland feature" , "Group with some killers" , "Maybe moulds" , "rusts?" .)

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