A team of forestry scientists discovered the giant after setting out to map the population of this pathogenic fungus in eastern Oregon. The team paired fungal samples in petri dishes to see if they fused ( see photo below), a sign that they were from the same genetic individual, and used DNA fingerprinting to determine where one individual fungus ended.

Happy Magic Forest: The Humongous Fungus - Oxford Owl Super Happy Magic Forest: The Humongous Fungus - Oxford Owl

Thanks for reading Scientific American. Create your free account or Sign in to continue. Create AccountThe vast fungus kingdom has an estimated four million species — ten times more than plants and 600 times more than mammals. Their beautiful mushrooms come in all colors, shapes, and sizes. Fungal stories include the greening of the Earth, when fungi helped plants first grow on land, and the mass destruction of crops through fungal disease. From the villains of the possible extinction of bananas to plastic-eating eco-warriors, there are more than 1.5 million fungus species, and a huge, unknown number of unnamed "dark" types. They affect other creatures, too, for example by helping break down food, or controlling their minds against their will. This book works as a wonderful introduction to the fungus world for children ages 7-9. It is not intended as a field guide, so note that children should not go out and forage on their own after reading this. Lots to know and think about, not just for our young readers but anybody wanting a good look at the humongous job that fungus do in our lives.

Humongous Fungus by DK | Waterstones

Both the giant blue whale and the humongous fungus fit comfortably within this definition. So does the 6,615-ton (six-million-kilogram) colony of a male quaking aspen tree and his clones that covers 107 acres (43 hectares) of a Utah mountainside.

There’re mighty killers that could wipe out an entire crop, but there’s also eco-friendly fungi like the one discovered in 2017 to be able to break down plastic. All fungi in the Armillaria genus are known as honey mushrooms, for the yellow-capped and sweet fruiting bodies they produce. Some varieties share this penchant for monstrosity but are more benign in nature. In fact the very first massive fungus discovered in 1992—a 37-acre (15-hectare) Armillaria bulbosa, which was later renamed Armillaria gallica—is annually celebrated at a "fungus fest" in the nearby town of Crystal Falls, Mich. And, at second glance, even those button mushrooms aren't so tiny. A large mushroom farm can produce as much as one million pounds (454 metric tons) of them in a year. "The mushrooms that people grow in the mushroom houses&133;; they're nearly genetically identical from one grower to another," Smith says. "So in a large mushroom-growing facility that would be a genetic individual—and it's massive!"