A special form of life that harmoniously combines animal and plant features, mushrooms are one of the oldest and most amazing inhabitants of our planet. Moreover, this complex living organism, like an iceberg, shows us only a small part of its body. Let's try to consider these unusual living organisms, and find out what is the largest mushroom in the world.
VERY Big Mushrooms
To begin, consider several species that are rightfully considered the largest mushrooms in the world ...
Honey mushrooms / Armillaria
In Western Europe and the USA they are usually called Armilaria, but in Russia the name honey agaris has taken root.
The name of a large genus of mushrooms is translated from the Latin language as “bracelet”. In total, 17 species of these lamellar mushrooms grow on the planet, and below we will talk about the record holders for the size and occupied area of this type of mushroom.
Golovach giant / Calvatia gigantea
One of the largest and most unusual mushrooms from the huge Champignon family. They have an original spherical shape of the mycelium, and grow in almost any environment, from deciduous forests to meadows and pastures.
At a young age, this species is edible, and is widely used in cooking in many countries of the world. But the spores of Calvatia gigantea are a valuable raw material in medicine for the production of many types of medicines.
Boletus edulis / Boletus edulis
The most popular and recognizable type of mushroom in the vast expanses of Russia is also called boletus, because in fairy tales an old boletus with a mushroom hat appeared on its head.
The mushroom has been known since ancient times, and in ancient Rome it was considered a delicious delicacy, and today it is considered in cooking one of the best in terms of taste.
Pipers
The status of the species name for these fungi has not yet been determined, but the fact that they grow enormous sizes has been noticed since the end of the 19th century.
They all have different shapes, and grow on tree trunks and stumps. Their diversity affects mycologists, and some types of tinder growers can grow up to 1.5 m, and weigh more than 10 kg.
Record mushrooms
And now we will consider the record mushrooms that were fortunate enough to discover mushroom pickers in different corners of our planet, and these finds have made lucky mushroom pickers famous all over the world ...
Raincoat from England
A record-breaking mushroom of the species Calvatia gigantea was discovered by a young Briton named Terry, who immediately became a local celebrity. After the rain, strolling through the forest, she came across a huge raincoat.
Having measured the hat, it turned out that its diameter is 46 cm, and the weight of the mushroom itself was 2 kg. The British filed an application in the Guinness Book to recognize her findings as the largest mushroom in the world, but she was rejected, so there were history knows larger specimens of this species.
This species is quite popular, but it is rather difficult to find large specimens, since before the arrival of mushroom pickers, they become a treat of animals. By the way, some animals can go without food for a very long time. Find out who this is on the pages of our site thebiggest.ru by clicking on the link.
Russian boletus
An avid mushroomer from the Tomsk Region once discovered a huge boletus, the weight of which was 2.4 kg.
Naturally, the fungus was measured in all respects. The length of the legs of this miracle was 28 cm, and the diameter of the cap was 36 cm.
The find of the mushroom picker was reported in the news of the Rossiya TV channel, stating that such a giant wasn’t wormy and could very well go to soup or to a skillet.
Lingzhi from China
A huge mushroom from the genus Ganoderma lucidum was discovered in one of the provinces of China near the town of Hezhou.
In the world, he is known by the name Tinder varnished, and the Chinese call him Lingzhi. The giant weighed 7.5 kg and the hat diameter was 107 cm. This tinder fungus has long been used in traditional Chinese medicine. And its useful properties were known in the 1st millennium BC.
Due to effects on human immunity. The Chinese also call it the "Mushroom of immortality."
White mushroom of Russia
The largest porcini mushroom in Russia was found in 1961, and if history has preserved its weight and size, then the time discovery has erased the place.
This handsome giant weighed 10 kg, and the hat diameter was 58 cm. The find was reported on the radio, after which the number of mushroom pickers increased significantly.
The second record holder was found on Seliger in 2010, the photo of which we post on the site.
Russian raincoat
In the Perm Territory in 2011, Vladislav Grabosinsky found a raincoat that was superior to the British in size and weight.
The diameter of the spherical fungus was 1.72 m, and it weighed 12 kg. There is this miracle of nature was already too late. And Vladislav gave his find to Perm University.
After the discovery was made public, mycologists said that it was not uncommon, but could not provide a larger mushroom of this species, so the Perm Raincoat took its place of honor in the Guinness Book of Records.
Champignon from Italy
Francesco Quito, a resident of the Italian province of Baria, was very surprised when he discovered a huge champignon.
With difficulty he brought him home, the Italian weighed the find, and the scales showed 14 kg, which was Italy's record.
Despite the size and age, the mushroom was completely edible, and Francesco called the inhabitants of the village to help him eat a unique and tasty find.
Macromicent from China
Known as cap mushrooms, they form large colonies on the ground or trees that are easily visible to the naked eye.
In one of the Chinese provinces, a huge macromicent of an unusual shape was discovered. The fact is that in form it looked more like hundreds of small mushroom caps that grew on one leg.
The weight of the find was 15 kg, and the diameter of the mushroom was 1 m. Note that scientists have not yet decided on the appearance of such an unusual mushroom.
US Titan Tricholomes
The species Macrocybe titans was first described in 1980, and in 2005, Mexican mycologist Rene Andrade found a mushroom of this species, which weighed 28 kg, on a coffee plantation in the United States.
Two years later, in one of the Mexican southern states, a similar mushroom was found, 70 cm high and 20 kg in weight. Such specimens aroused keen interest from the scientific community.
Note that these unique mushrooms grow in the southern states of the USA and in Central America. Hello pickup guys!
Macromycete from Canada
Christian Terrien, a resident of Canada, was very surprised when a huge raincoat mushroom grew on his way, as they say.
Christian just decided to take a walk through the woods with his son, and here it is. After weighing his find, the Canadian found out that the weight of the miracle of nature was 26 kg.
When the giant raincoat appeared within the house, the whole family and neighbors arranged funny photo shoots with him, because not such huge mushrooms come across every day.
Fomitiporia ellipsoidea from China
One of the varieties of polyporous fungus of huge sizes was discovered in the vastness of China on the island of Hainan in 2010.
After studying by Chinese mycologists, it turned out to be the largest fruiting body of the fungus in the world with a weight of over 500 kg. Upon detection, the growth of the giant tinder was 10.85 m, and the diameter of the mushroom cap was 88 cm.
Scientists said that he grew for about 20 years, but they could not immediately be found, since the growth process took place underground for a long time.
The biggest mushroom pickers
We already mentioned that most of the fungus is underground, and it is time to introduce the largest terrestrial organisms on the planet ...
Honey agaric in Switzerland
Not far from the Ofen mountain pass in the Swiss national park, a mycelium of the species Armillaria ostoyae was discovered, which today is the largest in Europe.
It extends over an area of 35 hectares, and, as mycologists suggest, its age is approximately 1,000 years. So ordinary mushrooms, small in size, hid such a giant organism underground.
Washington State Monster Mushroom
In early April 1992, the newspaper The New York Times published a note on a huge mushroom of the genus Armillaria, discovered in Washington state.
The plexus of threads underground covered an area of 15 hectares. Scientists managed to prove that all this is one living organism, and this was the first message of this kind about the huge size of mushrooms.
Just a few months later, a similar mushroom was discovered in the USA, growing on an area of 6 km².
Oregon giant
Mushroom mushroom dark, also known in the world under the name honey mushroom, was considered the largest living organism.
It developed, according to biologists, for 2,400 years, and today it is located within the Malur Oregon National Reserve.
Naturally, epithets of a superlative degree stuck to it - “mushroom-monster”, “Oregon monster”. In 1998, it was possible to determine that the accumulation of mushrooms in the reserve is one living organism, covering an area of 880 ha.
Real record holder
In early October 2018, scientists announced that the honey agaric found in the US state of Michigan is the largest living organism on the planet.
Scientists have confirmed that he began to develop as a microorganism from a small spore, and eventually reached such gigantic proportions.
Most of it is underground, and its age is 2.5 thousand years. It was possible to determine the approximate weight, which is 400 tons. So, the blue whale will be thrown off the pedestal of the largest living organism on the planet.
Summarize
As you can see, mushrooms are truly a miracle of nature, which sometimes amaze with their size. Naturally, it is not always possible to find giants in the forest, but glades of medium and small sizes of mushrooms delight the eyes of inveterate mushroom pickers.
Article author: Valery Skiba