EARTHHEAVIEST
EDIBLE FUNGUS
On 15 Oct 1990, Giovanni
Paba of Broadstone,
Dorset, UK, found a huge
“chicken of the woods”
mushroom (Laetiporus
sulphureus) in the New
Forest, Hampshire,
UK. The outsized
fungus weighed 100 lb
(45.35 kg). Its common
name derives from the
fact that the fungus is
said to have a chicken-
like taste.Mushrooms
can be^
used to make
paperEstimates suggest
that there are
5.1 million different
fungal species in
existenceFungi play
a major
role in the
production
of beer,
spirits, wine,
bread and
cheeseFungi are often used in
“stone washing” to give
jeans that worn-in lookanimals and plants. But in other fungi, each
of these two genes can have several different
versions (or “alleles”), resulting in a far larger
number of sexes. Slightly more than 28,000
different sexes have been documented from
the split gill fungus (Schizophyllum commune),
an extremely common mushroom species with
a global distribution. One of its two sex genes
has more than 300 alleles, and the other has in
excess of 90 alleles, yielding more than 28,000
different allele combinations – and therefore
sexes – from just these two genes.
Most aquatic species of mushroom
Psathyrella aquatica is native to the Rogue
River in Oregon, USA. It is the only basidiomycete
species whose fruiting body exists underwater.
It is anchored up to 0.5 m (1 ft 7 in) deep in
sediment, in order to withstand the river’s
strong, fast-moving currents. All of the other
higher-fungi mushrooms presently known
to science are terrestrial.
LARGEST...
Truffle
On 6 Dec 2014, a 1,786-g (3-lb 14.9-oz)
T. magnatum pico was sold by Sabatino Tartufi
(ITA/USA) to a bidder in Chinese Taipei for $61,250
(£39,154) at Sotheby’s in New York City, USA. In
the week after its discovery in Italy, evaporation
reduced it from a reported 1,890 g (4 lb 2.6 oz).Fungal growth
A fungus in the Malheur National Forest in the
Blue Mountains of eastern Oregon, USA, covers
890 ha (2,199 acres) – equivalent to around
1,220 soccer fields. Named Armillaria ostoyae
(and commonly known as the honey mushroom),
it is thought to be at least 2,400 years old.
This growth is also the largest bioluminescent
organism. The honey mushroom is known for
its glowing surface, caused by bioluminescent
bacteria, although most of its tissue is 1 m (3 ft)
underground, in the form of root-like mycelia.Tree fungus
In 1995, a bracket fungus (Rigidoporus
ulmarius) growing from dead elm wood in the
grounds of the Mycological Herbarium at the
Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, Surrey, UK,
was found to measure 1.6 x 1.4 m (5 ft 4 in x
4 ft 7 in). The record-breaking growth had a
circumference of 4.8 m (15 ft 9 in).Basidiospore
Basidiomycetes, known as the “higher fungi”,
include mushrooms, toadstools, puffballs,
bracket fungi and rust fungi. Most reproduce
sexually, producing minuscule specialized spores
known as basidiospores. The largest of these
spores are those produced by Aleurodiscus
gigasporus, a species of crust (corticioid)
fungus from China. They measure 34 x 28 μm
(micrometres), with an estimated mass of 17 ng
(nanograms) and a volume of 14 pL (picolitres).
To put that in context, they are about a tenth
of the size of a full stop on this page.LONGEST EDIBLE MUSHROOM
A Pleurotus eryngii grown by HOKUTO Corporation
(JPN) measured 59 cm (1 ft 11.22 in) long at the
company’s Mushroom Research Laboratory in
Nagano, Japan, on 25 Jul 2014. The fungus,
which weighed 3.58 kg (7 lb 14.2 oz), took 66 days
to grow and the team had to make sure it did not
fall and break under its own weight.LARGEST PUFFBALL
The giant puffball (Calvatia gigantea) fungus
is native to temperate areas worldwide. Its
spheroid fruiting body (the fleshy part where
the spores develop) can reach 1.5 m (4 ft 11 in)
in diameter and weigh 20 kg (44 lb). The species
develops during late summer and autumn, and
occurs in fields, meadows and deciduous forests.MOST POISONOUS FUNGUS
The death cap (Amanita phalloides) can be
found worldwide and is responsible for
90% of fatal poisonings caused by fungi.
Its toxin content is 7–9 mg (0.1–0.13 grains)
per gram of the mushroom’s dry weight.
The amount of amatoxins (i.e., a set of
related toxins) considered lethal for humans,
depending on bodyweight, is only 5–7 mg
(0.07–0.1 grains), the equivalent of less than
50 g (1.76 oz) of a fresh fungus.