The largest edible mushroom in the world. The largest mushrooms in the world: Photos of large mushrooms and myceliums The largest puffball mushroom
Scientists consider mushrooms to be the most diverse living creatures on our planet. There are so many of them that for each type of plant there are 6 types of mushrooms; with the most approximate calculation, it turns out that there are about 2 million species of mushrooms. They can be predators, move around, treat diseases...
At the same time, only 100 thousand have been studied, and even less have been classified.
mushrooms are an independent kingdom.
The long debate about whether mushrooms are plants or animals ended in 1960, when they were separated into a separate kingdom of fungi. In terms of protein content, mushrooms are closer to animals, and in terms of the composition of carbohydrates and minerals - to plants.
Most of the mushroom is not visible to us.
The body of the mushroom is the mycelium located in the ground. It can extend over vast distances. And the mushroom itself is a fruit intended for the implementation of a reproduction program.
mushrooms are older than dinosaurs.
It has been proven that mushrooms existed 400 million years ago, that is, long before the appearance of dinosaurs. They are one of the oldest inhabitants of the planet, along with ferns. But if the giant ferns that survived from the same period were significantly reduced, then the mushrooms, adapting, changed and, it seems, all these species still exist.
mushrooms are very tenacious.
If mushrooms were less tenacious, they would not retain their diversity. Anyone who has ever suffered from a fungal infection or struggled with fungal damage to walls can imagine how tenacious they are. It is extremely difficult to remove the fungus. Still would! Mushrooms survive at an altitude of 30 thousand meters above the ground, withstand high radiation (mushrooms survived at the center of the Chernobyl accident) and pressure of 8 atmospheres. They can even live on the surface of sulfuric acid!
mushrooms sunbathe.
Surprisingly, mushrooms produce vitamin D, if, of course, they have enough sunlight. The color of the mushroom cap depends on this.
mushrooms move.
Not all, of course. Currently, only myxomycetes are classified as “walking” mushrooms. You can find them in central Russia. This mushroom does not have a stem and in appearance resembles a shrunken jellyfish. It is translucent and gelatinous. Moves by waddling from side to side. The speed is low, but it can get to a more suitable place in a few days, sometimes even climbing a stump.
the mushroom grows at the speed of bamboo.
In Russian forests you can find a mushroom called “Veselka”, which is included in the Guinness Book of Records as the record holder for the fastest growth. Every 2 minutes it grows by a centimeter! On the first day it looks like a grayish egg, on the second it becomes an umbrella on a high leg, and on the third it is no longer visible.
mushroom - the most gigantic Living being on the ground.
Don't believe me? Very big White mushroom found in America (Wisconsin) in 1985. It weighed 140 kg and had a reach of two meters. But, as we remember, this is only the visible part. A mycelium was found in Oregon, covering an area of 900 hectares and weighing several hundred tons! But in Switzerland they discovered a mushroom about 1000 years old - honey fungus. Its mycelium occupies 35 hectares of the Swiss national park in Ofenpass.
mushrooms are predators and killers.
Fungi feed on nematode worms, placing traps on them from mycelial rings. If a worm touches such a trap, it sticks to it and immediately becomes entangled in the threads of the mycelium. There is no chance of escape. Fungal spores can germinate inside living things. But if a person gets sick, then the caterpillar, for example, dies. And the mushroom develops. One small toadstool is enough to kill 4 people. But you will need several fly agarics. Potent poisons were prepared from mushrooms and were actively used to eliminate opponents. Emperor Claudius was poisoned by his wife Agrippina by making toadstool soup.
mushrooms are healers.
Mushrooms have been used since ancient times as medicines. Even now, in many homes, “tea” or “milk” mushrooms grow in jars, a drink from which improves immunity and fights inflammatory diseases. In 1940, A. Flemming isolated penicillin from yeast fungi, opening the era of antibiotics. Medicinal properties mushrooms, violet rows, meadow and autumn honey mushrooms, milkweed, and chaga. And the skin of raincoats is used instead of an adhesive plaster - its inner part is sterile and has bactericidal properties.
Most Russians eat mushrooms.
Half of Russian residents collect mushrooms for food on their own. Every fifth person buys them on the market. 16% - in the store. 14% of Russians have never eaten mushrooms and do not plan to do so.
mushrooms are a valuable nutritious product.
Mushrooms are a source of protein and, to a lesser extent, carbohydrates, and contain absolutely no cholesterol. By the way, precisely because mushrooms do not contain animal saturated fats, they cannot be classified as animals. In addition to protein and carbohydrates, mushrooms are rich in vitamins B1, B2, D, selenium, potassium and antioxidants
mushrooms are hallucinogens.
Many mushrooms contain substances that cause euphoria and hallucinations. The ancient shamans and Vikings knew this. Shamans used this property of mushrooms to perform rituals, and the Vikings used it to give themselves courage and attack the enemy with all fearlessness and power.
billions of fungal spores fly in the air.
Fungi reproduce by spores. By taking air samples in almost any room, you can detect fungal spores. If we talk about traditional mushrooms, then an ordinary champignon releases up to 40 million spores! Dung fungus – 100 million spores. The record holder is the puffball mushroom, which releases more than seven trillion spores! In this case, the spores are thrown at a distance of more than two meters and they fly at the speed of a car: 90 km/h or 25 meters per second.
the mushroom can “pierce” the marble.
During the growth period, the pressure of the fungus reaches seven atmospheres (equal to the pressure in the tires of a dump truck). Therefore, a seemingly soft mushroom cap can break through not only asphalt and concrete, but also harder surfaces such as marble and iron. If the cap itself does not pass, then the mycelium will gradually destroy the barrier.
mushrooms are taller than trees.
These mushrooms grow in the tundra. The trees there are dwarf, 20-25 cm high and bend to the ground. And the mushrooms are standard, so they rise above the treetops. It’s interesting that they grow up almost at the same moment, rushing to have time to release spores during the period short summer, and the view is very spectacular. Most of all, this period pleases the deer, who happily eat the caps of these mushrooms.
mushrooms glow in the dark.
Some mushrooms have luminous mycelium. For example, autumn honey fungus growing on rotten stumps. At the same time, the mycelium penetrates the stump thickly. In the dark you can see how the rotten ones glow - phosphorescent. This sight used to greatly frighten people, who immediately populated the forest with witches and goblins. What’s interesting is that the flickering of such lights resembles the movement of living creatures, as it changes with every tilt and every turn of the head.
mushrooms ladies and gentlemen.
It turns out that mushrooms are divided into male and female. This is evidenced by the structure of fungal DNA, which resembles human sex chromosomes. This was reported by Joseph Heitman, who studies the fungi Phycomyces blakesleeanus in Medical center Duke University. Sexually mature mushrooms can produce common offspring. Not all mushrooms have similar genes, which means that among mushrooms there are also evolving individuals, and who knows what such evolution will lead to.
mushrooms in legends, traditions and dream books.
It is interesting that in those places where mushrooms grow actively, including in Russia, there are many legends and traditions involving mushrooms. At the same time, mushrooms can be good: “Forest Mushroom” and evil: “Witch’s Mushroom”. Mushrooms helped people survive in the forest.
The largest mushrooms in the world
If you ask people, then to the question “What is the largest creature on Earth,” almost everyone will answer that blue whale. Some scientists even claim this. But they are only partially right. Yes, the blue whale is a large animal. But most great creature living on earth is a mushroom. Moreover, it has been on the planet for several thousand years. In fact, mushrooms are amazing creatures nature. They differ from animals in physiology and the inability to move independently, but from plants in that they do not take energy and carbon from carbon dioxide And sunlight. Moreover, mushrooms typically contain chitin, which is found in invertebrates. Mushrooms are a huge kingdom of living beings. Today people know about one hundred thousand mushrooms, and some of them bring a lot of benefits to humanity. Here we should not forget about antibiotics and penicillin. Well, besides medicine, mushrooms are used as food. Almost all mushrooms grow in the form of a community of cells, which gathers into a thread of mycelium. And when they grow into a plant, they can develop a pressure of 800 tons per square meter. And these same mushroom threads play the role of the mouth and stomach of mushrooms. They release enzymes that break down potential food into components and eat the nutrients. It turns out that mushrooms grow inside the food they eat. By the way, when you cut a mushroom above the ground, a whole mycelium remains underneath it. The mycelium is an invisible, but very large part of the mushroom. Meanwhile, desperate botanists and the most sophisticated gourmets are in shock. The size to which mushrooms can grow can be so impressive that no questions arise after what you see. It is unknown what factors can provoke the growth of fungi to unimaginable sizes. But it is clear that such anomalies are extremely rare; at least, only a few cases are known today.
Mushrooms can grow to incredible sizes. Monster Mushroom The general public first learned about the giant Armillaria mushrooms only on April 2, 1992. One of the record holders ended up on the front page of the most popular newspaper, the New York Times. The publication described the discovery, according to reports, the interweaving of underground threads and above-ground mushrooms covered as many as 15 hectares of land. And all this was a single whole, which experts were able to prove. Armillaria - mushrooms are not big size with a huge mycelium In the same year, another giant mushroom of the same species was found. It occupied a space of approximately 6 square kilometers. But even he was not the real record holder. Most big mushroom on the planet grew up in Malheur National Park in Oregon's Blue Mountains. “Mushroom” covered an area of 890 hectares, which is approximately 1220 football fields. Scientists even calculated how long it took him to grow so huge. It turns out that the mushroom is at least 2400 years old. It belongs to the species Armilaria ostoyae, and is also known as a honey mushroom. However, you definitely cannot make soup from such a record holder, since it is inedible. On the surface, the mushroom leaves only dead trees and small mushrooms, the rest is underground.
The oldest mushroom in the world
Giant mushrooms
Here's the biggest one edible mushroom found by a certain Jean Guy Richard in Canada. In his basket was a unique raincoat (Calvatia gigantean). And he was truly gigantic. The mushroom weighed exactly 22 kilograms and was 2.64 meters in circumference. A giant mushroom weighing 22 kg However, the Mexicans are truly lucky. In the summer of 2007, a mushroom weighing approximately 20 kilograms and more than 60 centimeters long was found on coffee plantations in the state of Chiaps in southeastern Mexico. It is noteworthy that he grew right among the coffee trees. Another edible record holder, which was found in Italy, weighed 14 kilograms. It was discovered by Francesco Quito in the province of Bari. And it was champignon. To bring such a find home, the mushroom picker had to look for a car.
The largest mushroom in Italy
Well, the previous giant mushroom turned out to be a truffle. True, he weighed a little less than his predecessors, only 7 kilograms. And the most interesting thing is that the people who found the mushroom did not find anything better than to fry their find and eat it with their neighbors. And this is taking into account the fact that mushrooms in Italy are valued quite expensively, so the forest miracle could be sold profitably. Another natural miracle met in the forests of Switzerland. Interesting fact, the huge mushroom turned out to be a simple mushroom. Scientists were truly amazed by its size, because never before had anyone suspected that mushrooms such as honey mushrooms could become giants. And in fact, the size of the mushroom can inspire respect. Its length is 800 meters and its width is about half a kilometer. Its size covered 35 hectares. In principle, his age is not small, according to the most conservative estimates, one thousand years.
The largest mushroom in the world
In 2011, there were reports that scientists from the Chinese Academy of Sciences on Hainan Island discovered a mushroom weighing approximately 402-516 kilograms. Since then, it has been called the largest mushroom on the planet. Yu Cheng Dai and his colleagues made the discovery completely by accident. The company went on an expedition with one goal - to study representatives of the mushroom kingdom as a whole, they were especially interested in those that, of course, are found in the forests of their native island. The largest mushroom in the world was found in China. It was Fomitiporia ellipsoidea. The mushroom was assigned to the species Fomitiporia ellipsoidea, and its age was estimated at 20 years. Over the years, he managed to grow almost 11 centimeters in length, 88 centimeters in width and 5 centimeters in thickness. The mushroom has an unprecedented volume - 409-535 thousand cubic centimeters. However, three years earlier, also in China, but on another island of Fujian, similar huge mushrooms were discovered, although they were very different in size from their counterpart from Hainan.
Useful tips about mushrooms
Never eat too many mushrooms (in any form). Although edible mushrooms are tasty, they still require good digestion; the most best mushrooms, eaten in excessive quantities, can cause severe and even dangerous stomach upsets in people with weakened and improper digestion.
For aging mushrooms, before cooking them, you should always remove the bottom layer of the cap: for lamellar mushrooms - the plates, for spongy mushrooms - the sponge, which in a ripe mushroom for the most part becomes soft and easily separates from the cap. Mature spores, contained in abundance in the plates and sponge of a ripe mushroom, are almost not digested.
Cleaned mushrooms should be placed in cold water for 30 minutes to soak off the sand and dry leaves that have stuck to them, and washed thoroughly 2-3 times, pouring fresh water each time. It’s good to add a little salt to it - it will help get rid of worms in the mushrooms.
There are fewer mushrooms in the shady wilderness than in sunlit areas.
Don't try raw mushrooms!
Do not eat overripe, slimy, flabby, wormy or spoiled mushrooms.
Remember about false honey mushrooms: Avoid mushrooms with brightly colored caps.
Champignons are well preserved if they are soaked for several hours in cold water, then cut off the contaminated parts of the legs, rinse in water with the addition of citric acid and boil in water with a small addition of salt to taste. After this, place the hot champignons along with the broth into glass jars, close (but do not roll up!) and store in a cool place (in the refrigerator). These champignons can be used to prepare various dishes and sauces.
Never pick, eat or taste mushrooms that have a tuberous thickening at the base (like the red fly agaric).
Be sure to boil the morels and strings and rinse thoroughly with hot water.
Before salting or eating fresh, boil milky mushrooms or soak them for a long time.
Raw mushrooms float, cooked mushrooms sink to the bottom.
When cleaning fresh mushrooms cut off only the lower, contaminated part of the leg.
The top skin of the cap is removed from the boletus.
The caps of morels are cut off from the stems, soaked for an hour in cold water, washed thoroughly, changing the water 2-3 times, and boiled in salted water for 10-15 minutes. The decoction is not eaten.
Broths and sauces are prepared from porcini mushrooms; they are tasty when salted and pickled. Whatever the cooking method, they do not change their inherent color and aroma.
Only a decoction of porcini mushrooms and champignons can be used. Even a small amount of this decoction improves any dish.
Boletus and aspen mushrooms are not suitable for making soups, as they produce dark decoctions. They are fried, stewed, salted and pickled.
Milk mushrooms and saffron milk caps are used mainly for pickling.
Russulas are boiled, fried and salted.
Honey mushrooms are fried. The small caps of these mushrooms are very tasty when salted and pickled.
Chanterelles are never wormy. They are fried, salted and pickled.
Before stewing, the mushrooms are fried.
Mushrooms should be seasoned with sour cream only after they are well fried, otherwise the mushrooms will turn out boiled.
Champignons have such a delicate taste and smell that adding pungent spices to them only worsens their taste. They are the only mushrooms of their kind that have a light, slightly sour taste.
It’s better to season such native Russian food as mushrooms sunflower oil. All tubular mushrooms are fried on it, as well as russula, chanterelles, and champignons. It is seasoned with salted milk mushrooms and trumpet mushrooms. Oil is poured into glass jars with pickled butter and honey mushrooms so that a thin layer of it protects the marinade from mold.
Don't leave it for too long fresh mushrooms, they contain substances that are hazardous to health and even life. Immediately sort and start cooking. As a last resort, put them in a colander, sieve or enamel pan and, without covering, put them in the refrigerator, but for no more than a day and a half.
Mushrooms collected in rainy weather, especially quickly deteriorate. If you leave them in the basket for several hours, they will soften and become unusable. Therefore, they must be prepared immediately. But also ready mushroom dishes You can’t store them for a long time - they will spoil.
To prevent peeled mushrooms from turning black, place them in salted water and add a little vinegar.
It is easy to remove the skin from russula if you first pour boiling water over it.
Be sure to remove the mucus-covered film from the butter before cooking.
Spices are added to the marinade only when it is completely cleared of foam.
To prevent the marinade from boletus and boletus from turning black, pour boiling water over them before cooking, hold in this water for 10 minutes, rinse, and then cook in the usual way.
To prevent peeled champignons from darkening, place them in water slightly acidified with lemon or citric acid.
Be aware of the possibility of botulism and other bacterial diseases if sanitary and hygienic requirements are not followed when preserving mushrooms.
Do not cover jars with pickled and salted mushrooms with metal lids; this can lead to the development of the botulinus microbe. It is enough to cover the jar with two sheets of paper - plain and waxed, tie it tightly and put it in a cool place.
It should be remembered that botulinum bacteria produce their deadly toxin only under severe lack of oxygen (i.e. inside hermetically sealed cans) and at temperatures above +18 degrees. C. When storing canned food at temperatures below +18 degrees. With (in the refrigerator) the formation of botulinum toxin in canned food is impossible.
For drying, young, strong mushrooms are selected. They are sorted through and cleaned of adhering soil, but not washed.
The stems of porcini mushrooms are cut off completely or partially so that no more than half remains. Dry them separately.
The stems of boletus and aspen mushrooms are not cut off, but the entire mushroom is cut vertically in half or into 4 parts.
All edible mushrooms can be salted, but most often only lamellar mushrooms are used for this, since tubular mushrooms become flabby when salted.
The marinade from boletus and boletus will not turn black if you pour boiling water over the mushrooms before cooking, soak in this water for 5-10 minutes, then rinse with cold water.
To keep the marinade light and transparent, you need to remove the foam during cooking.
Salted mushrooms cannot be stored in a warm place, nor should they be frozen: in both cases they darken.
Store dried mushrooms in a sealed container, otherwise the aroma will evaporate.
If dry mushrooms crumble during storage, do not throw away the crumbs. Powder them and store them in a well-sealed glass jar in a cool, dry place. This powder can be used to prepare mushroom sauces and broths.
It’s good to keep dried mushrooms in salted milk for several hours - they will become like fresh.
Dried mushrooms are much better digestible if they are crushed into powder. This mushroom flour can be used to prepare soups, sauces, and add to stewed vegetables and meat.
Dried chanterelles boil better if you add a little baking soda to the water.
Before cooking, the strings and morels must be boiled for 7-10 minutes, and the broth (it contains poison) must be poured out. After this, the mushrooms can be boiled or fried.
Before marinating, boil the chanterelles and valui in salted water for 25 minutes, place in a sieve and rinse. Then put it in a saucepan, add the required amount of water and vinegar, add salt and boil again.
Cook the mushrooms in the marinade for 10-25 minutes. Mushrooms are considered ready when they begin to sink to the bottom and the brine becomes clear.
Salted mushrooms should be stored in a cool place and at the same time ensure that mold does not appear. From time to time, the fabric and the circle with which they are covered must be washed in hot, slightly salted water.
Pickled mushrooms should be stored in a cool place. If mold appears, all mushrooms should be placed in a colander and washed with boiling water, then make a new marinade, boil the mushrooms in it and, putting them in clean jars, pour in vegetable oil and cover with paper.
Dried mushrooms easily absorb moisture from the air, so they should be stored in a dry place in moisture-proof bags or tightly closed jars.
When pickling mushrooms, do not neglect dill. Feel free to add it when marinating boletus, salting russula, chanterelles, and valui. But it’s better to salt milk mushrooms, saffron milk caps, milk mushrooms and white mushrooms without fragrant herbs. Their natural aroma is more pleasant than dill.
Don't forget about horseradish. Horseradish leaves and roots placed in mushrooms not only give them a spicy pungency, but are reliably preserved without becoming soggy.
Green branches of black currant give the mushrooms an aroma, and cherry and oak leaves add appetizing fragility and strength.
Most mushrooms are best salted without onions. It quickly loses its aroma and sours easily. Chop onions (you can also use green ones) only into salted mushrooms and milk mushrooms, as well as into pickled honey mushrooms and boletus mushrooms.
A bay leaf thrown into boiling honey mushrooms and boletus will give them a special aroma. Also add a little cinnamon, cloves, and star anise to the marinade.
There are many interesting facts associated with mushrooms. Japanese researchers have established for certain that a mushroom can think and remember, and the mycelium is a unique natural underground “Internet”! It is also interesting that the mycelium itself can grow indefinitely, sometimes reaching monstrous sizes. About 10 years ago, in Michigan (USA), a 2,000-year-old mushroom network was discovered; it spread underground over 900 hectares, which is equal to approximately 1,800 football fields. Considering that the mycelium is the vegetative body of a mushroom, we can safely say that the “Michigan miracle” is the largest mushroom in the world.
There are several other similar monster myceliums on earth:
- The dark honey fungus or, scientifically, Armillaria ostoyae, has a huge mycelium with an area of 35 hectares in the National Park in Switzerland near the Ofena Pass. The mycelium is at least 1000 years old and is the largest in Europe;
- in 1992, researchers in Washington state accidentally stumbled upon mycelium that covered 600 hectares;
- Before the discovery of the “Michigan diva,” the title “Largest Mushroom” belonged to an organism that scientists found in 2000 in a relict forest in Oregon (USA). The mycelium of honey mushrooms has simply grown to gigantic proportions: it has occupied 880 hectares, which is equal to 1,700 football fields, while its threads go about one and a half meters deep. The age of this mycelium is 2500 years!
From the outside we see only representatives of this huge living creature - mushrooms with a stem and a cap, of normal size and familiar to the eye. Meanwhile, huge mushrooms (in the usual sense of the word) are also found in nature. Below are the largest mushrooms in the world, which amaze the imagination with their size and weight.
Giant mushrooms
A huge puffball from the champignon family was found in 1987 by Canadian Jean Guy Richard. This giant mushroom had a circumference of 2.6 meters and weighed 24 kg! A photo of a mushroom picker with his trophy immediately went onto the Internet and spread all over the world. Scientists, having assessed the find, concluded: the raincoat could produce such a number of spores that the mushrooms that grew from their generation could cover the entire area of our planet three times.
The mushroom “lost” to the raincoat by only 1 kg, which local found in 2007 in southern Mexico in the state of Chiapas. With a height of 67 cm, he weighed 23 kg. A year later, in 2008, again in Mexico, a biologist discovered a mushroom weighing 22 kg. These are giants! They can feed the whole village!
The largest mushroom (with stem and cap) ever found in Europe is considered to be a champignon weighing 14 kg. It grew quietly in a field in the Italian province of Bari until local farmer Francesco Quito found it and cut it. Together with his wife, they brought the find home by car, cleaned it, cut it, fried it, and invited all the neighbors for a treat! This was a feast for the whole world!
On last place there is a rather modest find of a 25-year-old girl, Terri Hodson Walker. She found the fungus on her land in the English county of Staffordshire in 2011. In fact, the fungus is indeed very modest in size compared to the giants described above. Its diameter was only 47 cm, and its weight was just over 2 kg. But for some reason this find received a lot of attention; a photo of a girl with a mushroom is circulating all over the Internet under the loud title “The largest mushroom in the world”! Maybe the girl is pretty, because the mushroom is clearly not the biggest and does not deserve such interest...
Russian record holders
This is again a puffball mushroom. He was found in 2011 in the Perm forest by an amateur “ quiet hunt» Vladislav Grabosinsky. After measurements and weighing, it turned out that the giant has a hat with a diameter of no less than 1 meter 72 cm, its height is 52 cm, and it weighs 12 kg 150 grams. Vladislav did not eat the find, but delivered it intact to the Department of Botany at Perm University. Let them study for your health!
Another record holder is the Russian boletus, found in the forest in the Tomsk region. It was discovered by local mushroom picker Alexey Korol while picking mushrooms near his village. The man was simply shocked by the discovery: the height of the giant mushroom’s leg was 28 cm, and the diameter of its cap was 36 centimeters, while it weighed 2.4 kilograms! Interestingly, the mushroom was absolutely clean, without wormholes or damage.
While large puffballs or tinder fungi are occasionally found, such a giant boletus is an incredible rarity. Until now, not a single similar mushroom has been officially recorded. Although maybe the whole point is that simple people Those who find something like this do not understand the full value of the find. They simply rejoice at the big mushroom, take pictures with it as a souvenir and eat the unique mushroom together. Photos from the Internet prove that such giants do exist in Russia.
For example, this photo from the Internet is clearly real. On it, two charming ladies simply represent huge mushroom, but no information about it has been found... Therefore, it is advisable to report such finds to specialists, although it is not a fact that the giant will not be taken away, then there will be no need to try it, and it will be a little offensive...
Giant tinder fungus
Another giant mushroom was found in 2015 in China. His scientific name– Ganoderma Lucidum or Lacquer Polypore. The Chinese call it “Lingzhi” or “mushroom of immortality,” claiming that this species prolongs life, preserves eternal youth, improves health, relieves hypertension and allergies, cures asthma and even oncology.
The diameter of the find’s cap is 107 cm, and the “mushroom” weighed 7.5 kg. Experts valued it at $900.
In general, large tinder fungi are not that uncommon. For example, in Great Britain, on the territory of the Institute of Mycology, a tinder fungus grows, the diameter of its cap has already reached 4 meters!
Highest
The tallest mushroom in the world is the variegated umbrella. It can be found in the forests of many European countries, as well as in Russia. On average, this fungus has a cap with a diameter of up to 30 cm, which is attached to a stem up to 40 cm high. But this is on average. Finds up to 1 meter high have been recorded! A waist-deep mushroom is already from the land of giants!
From the Guinness Book of Records
There are two amazing entries in this Book:
- According to the first, in 1946 in Washington (USA) a tinder fungus was found, a real giant, the dimensions of which were 140x94 cm, and it weighed as much as 136 kg!
- the second entry says that in 1985, again in the USA, in Wisconsin, a raincoat with a girth of almost 195 cm grew.
It's hard to even imagine this. But the Guinness Book of Records is trustworthy...
The largest living organism on the planet October 12th, 2015
This is a MUSHROOM, or rather, the mycelium of the honey fungus (Armillaria ostoyae), which develops in the Malur forest reserve in American state Oregon. The mycelium of this living creature covers an area of more than 880 hectares, and its age is estimated at 2.4 thousand years.
The largest living organism on the planet is sometimes called the Oregon monster or the honey mushroom monster, and not at all because of its gigantic size. The fact is that the giant mycelium, entangling the roots of trees, causes the death of the latter. And many of the trees in the reserve have already become victims of huge mycelium. By the way, thanks to mass death trees and managed to identify the giant.
Attracted by the history of the death of trees, biologists in 1998 were able to determine that the honey fungus mycelium from Oregon is not individual clusters growing throughout the forest, but a gigantic, integral living organism.
Previously, the largest living creature in the world was considered the mycelium of the dark honey fungus, growing in Washington state. Its size was estimated at 600 hectares.
It is possible that there are larger myceliums on our planet, the existence of which is still unknown to scientists.
Here is the story of its discovery:
The find was reported in the current issue of the Canadian Journal of Forest Research. "The fact that an organism like this has grown in a forest for thousands of years really broadens our view of the forest ecosystem and how it works," said Dr. Katherine Parks, a pathologist at the US Department of Agriculture who conducted the study.
Researchers discovered this giant mushroom in the Malheur National Park, which covers an area of 590,000 hectares and consists of highland fields, pine forests and mountain lakes. This territory lies at an altitude of 1200-2750 meters above sea level.
A single organism of such large size has led to new understandings of the role of fungi in forest ecology. Previously, it was believed that mushrooms similar to honey mushrooms grew in groups within the forest, visible from the air in ring shapes. dead zones trees.
But when researchers collected samples of mushrooms from an area of 9.65 square kilometers throughout the Oregon forest, they were tested to be the same mushroom. Scientists have estimated its age to be between 2,000 and 8,500 years old.
"This is a single organism that started growing as a microscopic spore and then spread like a plant," Parks said. “If we could remove all the soil and look at what was left, we would only see one big pile of a single mushroom with all its mycelial filaments that permeate all the soil below the surface.”
Researchers now believe that the fungus is part of a natural cycle of tree regeneration and decline within forests and that it is often present in areas with little tree damage.
Our forestry industry should also think about this problem, since honey mushrooms grow throughout our entire region of Russia. Apparently, the principle of distribution of all honey mushrooms is the same, regardless of their type and habitat area. So, when we go into the forest and collect honey mushrooms, perhaps we put them in our basket fruiting bodies the same mushroom.
But there are other options:
"Pando" is a clonal colony of aspen poplar (USA, Utah). As scientists have established, 47 thousand stems come from one once living poplar. All 47 thousand stems have a single root system and can be called a single organism, whose mass is 6 thousand tons. The age of "Pando" is 80 thousand years (according to some estimates - up to a million years), which makes it one of the main candidates for the title of the longest-lived organism on the planet.
Clonal colony- this is a group of genetically identical individuals (plants, fungi, bacteria) that grew up in one place and reproduced vegetatively and not sexually. In plants, an individual of such a population is called a ramet. In mushrooms, individuals develop from a common mycelium hidden in the soil. Clonal colonies are common in many plant species. Although some of them reproduce sexually through seeds, reproduction can occur in some cases through underground stolons and rhizomes. Above ground, these plants appear to be separate individuals, so clonal colonies are not always easy to recognize.
It is assumed that for most of Pando's life, it grew under ideal conditions: frequent fires prevented its main competitor, the conifers, from colonizing the area, and climate change from humid to semi-arid prevented the spread of seedlings and attendant competition from young poplars.
During severe fires, the organism survived thanks to the root system, throwing out new shoots on the ashes. Due to his age, Pando was born in a climate significantly different from today, and probably flourished in last time about ten thousand years ago, according to an OECD report:
Clonal groups of P. tremuloides are very common in eastern North America, but typically occupy no more than 0.1 ha, while groups as large as 80 ha have been observed in Utah (Kemperman and Barnes 1976). Some claim that seedlings have not spread in the western United States since the last glaciation, about 10,000 years ago (Einspahr and Winton 1976, McDonough 1985). In fact, some biologists believe that the western lineages may be as old as 1 million years (Barnes 1966, 1975). A single clone, nicknamed "Pando" (Latin for "I spread"), was said to occupy 43 hectares, contain over 47,000 shoots and weigh over 6 million kg, being the largest known organism (Grant et al. 1992, Mitton and Grant 1996) .
The clone covers 43 hectares (107 acres) and has approximately 47,000 stems that die and renew themselves from its roots. The trunks are connected to each other by a root system. The average age of a Pando trunk (or more precisely, shoot) is 130 years, as became clear from the growth rings.
<…>Compared to Pando, who lived according to the most common estimate of 80,000 years, according to the most accepted point of view among anthropologists, Homo sapiens migrated from Africa to Eurasia and Oceania only 40,000 years ago, and to America 10,000 years ago.”
Another candidate for the title of the longest-lived and largest clonal organism on Earth is a colony of Posidonia oceanica south of the island of Ibiza in the Mediterranean Sea. Clonal colony of Posidonia oceanica measuring 8 km. in diameter can be up to 100 thousand years old.
sources
http://www.nat-geo.ru/fact/41372-gigant-iz-oregona/
http://newsland.com/news/detail/id/1101406/
http://www.wolfnight.ru/forum/forum_theme.php?theme=1654&page=1
http://www.factroom.ru/facts/1461
Something else GREAT for you: here it is, and here it is The original article is on the website InfoGlaz.rf Link to the article from which this copy was made -The largest mushroom in the world, as we know it, was found in 2007 in the state of Chiapas in southern Mexico. Its height was more than 60 centimeters and its weight was 23 kilograms. This is not the only major find in Mexico; in 2008, a local biologist accidentally found a mushroom that weighed more than 20 kilograms.
However, the largest mushroom in size is the mushroom located in this moment in the US state of Oregon in Malheur National Park. According to experts, its age may be about 2.5 thousand years. Its size is impressive; the large mushroom can be compared to 1,230 football fields. The giant belongs to the species Armilaria ostoyae, which cannot be eaten.
The largest mushroom in the world that can be eaten is a mushroom discovered in 1987 by Canadian Jean Guy Richard. The giant's weight was 22 kilograms and its diameter was 2.64 meters.
In 2011, a large mushroom weighing more than 2 kilograms and 47 centimeters in diameter was discovered in the English county of Staffordshire. The giant was found by a young girl named Terri Hodson Walker. 25 summer girl owns land in the county where large mushrooms can often be found, but as the girl says, most of the mushrooms did not reach such large sizes because they are eaten by animals. In addition, such mushrooms are very delicate and any, even the slightest, impact on them has a detrimental effect on their further growth.
Remember the gnome who sat on a fly agaric hat. He so often becomes the hero of fairy tales in some Western countries. His decorative sculptures adorn many parks and attractions around the world.
Mushrooms are very interesting for housewives who create culinary masterpieces. They are of particular interest to a certain category of young people who are addicted to hallucinogens.
Yes, for many it is not easy to pass by even just an image of an unusual specimen of a giant mushroom found by someone.
And when you go to the forest to pick mushrooms, you hope that you too will come across such an unusual find, a really huge mushroom, even a giant. But usually you pick the most common boletuses, boletus, milk mushrooms, trumpet mushrooms and others forest beauties. And some people are much luckier. And then the find becomes the subject of active discussion for a long time and gives hope to subsequent mushroom pickers that such luck awaits them too.
By the way, giant mushrooms not an anomaly, as biologists believe, and most of them are edible. And they find them in the most different parts Sveta.
Armillaria ostoyae (honey mushroom)
It was found in the relict forests of the United States. It is considered one of the largest creatures living on the planet. The largest part of it settled underground, leaving at the top only small mushrooms, macromycetes, honey mushrooms, any of which could easily fit even in your hand. But its mycelium is a single organism and is conveniently located on 880 hectares in national park Oregons. This is a real monster.
It grew for about two and a half thousand years, destroying tree roots along the way, and has now reached a weight of more than 600 kilograms. But hardly anyone can make soup from it. One of these giants was first reported to the general public in 1992 by the New York Times.
This giant tinder fungus, almost eleven meters high and with a cap width of 82-88 centimeters, was found in China. Similar outstanding representatives of the mushroom kingdom have been found here more than once since 2007. But a half-ton giant like this had never been seen before 2010. Yes, and it was discovered by chance during a study of tree mushrooms in the forests of Hainan Island, because for about 20 years it grew underground and remained unnoticed for a long time.
During a routine walk along forest paths, Canadian residents caught the eye of this 26-kilogram handsome man, who also became a fashion model.
A specimen weighing 20 kilograms and almost 70 centimeters tall was discovered in 2007 in Mexico among coffee trees. And two years earlier, a similar giant weighing only 28 kilograms was found on a coffee plantation in the USA. They are also called giant rows and ten-kilogram specimens no longer surprise anyone.
Macromycete from China
This giant, weighing 15 kilograms, was also of an unusual shape, as if on its single leg there were a hundred small mushroom caps, up to a meter in diameter. The species of this fungal organism, so eccentric, has not yet been determined.
A lucky mushroom picker from Italy carried this giant, weighing 14 kilograms, on his shoulder with great difficulty. If not for the car, it is unknown how he would have gotten home. Doubly lucky. The fungus even turned out to be edible, and in order to eat it, we had to call our neighbors for help.
Was found in the Perm region. Half-meter handsome man, hat in 1.72 meters diameter He weighed more than 12 kilograms, but they say that they met even more, almost 20 kilograms. Of course, the mushroom is edible, but it has served science because it is no longer young and is not as tasty as those that are much younger. By the way, this is the largest mushroom found in Russia. And it is absolutely certain that in the previous mushroom season nothing grew in this place. And in 2011, this giant grew among its fellow raincoats, which were only slightly inferior to it in size.
Porcini
Once "Moscow Radio" reported in live about a completely extraordinary find that can amaze the imagination and arouse the envy of any mushroom picker, even the most experienced one. This delicious miracle weighed almost eleven kilograms, and the diameter of its cap reached almost 60 centimeters. It is a pity that there is no information about the place of discovery, only the year 1961 is known. But one thing is clear for sure. For a mushroom picker, such a find is true happiness. About nutritional beneficial properties boletus is known to everyone, here it will leave behind any edible mushroom that is known to man. And that makes such a find even more valuable.
This is what they call the lacquered tinder fungus in China, a huge specimen of which weighs seven and a half kilograms and has a diameter of more than a meter was discovered in Hezhou. A real find for Chinese medicine. It was not in vain that it received the name “mushroom of immortality” for its remarkable ability to enhance immunity and has been actively used for more than two thousand years.
This find in southern Italy can be considered the most expensive mushroom. If the owner had sold this unique seven-kilogram beauty, he would have earned a lot, because there are no mushrooms in the world more expensive than truffles. But the family enjoyed the fried delicacy.
In certain areas of the country searches white truffle, the rarest and most coveted food ingredient in the world, is handled by dogs specially trained for it and only three last month of the year. And from time to time there are giants weighing up to two kilograms, most often sold at auctions and tens of thousands of dollars are paid for them.
He was found in the Tomsk region. A 28 cm leg held a giant's hat 36 centimeters in diameter. And he weighed 2.4 kilograms. And given his parameters, he wasn’t even wormy.
He grew up in the garden, where his owner discovered him when the rainy season ended. Handsome, weighing just over two kilograms and with a hat reaching 46 centimeters in diameter. In general, just touching such a mushroom is enough for it to break and stop growing.
And yet, it is quite rare to come across mushrooms of truly impressive size. And then the lucky one will notify the world about such luck.