The biggest mushroom. The largest mushrooms

From time to time information appears in the media that the most big mushroom in the world a new record holder among such creatures. According to biologists, the huge parameters of the new finds are a natural phenomenon and are not a sign of any anomaly. These representatives of a special form of life, which combine characteristics characteristic of plants and animals, can grow to enormous sizes if favorable conditions are created for them.

Scientists find it surprising that many of the giant mushrooms discovered are edible. It is amazing that these giants were able to survive and grow to impressive sizes, despite the efforts of many mushroom pickers and the love of animals to feast on fresh mushrooms.

In the Oregon forests located in the United States, biologists were able to discover a fungus that is striking in its size. True, the terrestrial part of this record holder cannot surprise – Armillaria ostoyae fits in the palm of your hand. We know these mushrooms as honey mushrooms. Scientists were really surprised by the size of the mycelium, which is impressive with its parameters:

• the area occupied by the rhizome of the fungus is 880 hectares;
• Mycelium can cover about 1,665 football fields;
• the age of formation of the fungal root system is 2500 years;
• the estimated weight of the mycelium is more than 600 kg.

Biologists, after conducting research, have established that the discovered Armillaria ostoyae is not only the largest among other mushrooms, but also the greatest living creature on the planet. Even the roots of some centuries-old trees were destroyed by the mycelium of this giant.

In 2010, a huge tree fungus, Phellinus ellipsoideus, was discovered in China. In about 20 years, it managed to reach a height of 10.85 m. The width of its cap reaches 88 cm. Scientists managed to discover it while studying various tree mushrooms on the island of Hainan. The giant grew underground, which prevented it from being discovered earlier. According to a rough estimate by biologists, the weight of Phellinus ellipsoideus reaches 500 kg.

In 2005, a Mexican biologist in the United States found a macrocybe mushroom that grew between coffee trees and weighed 28 kg. Two years later, another macrocybe of impressive size was discovered on a coffee plantation in Mexico. The giant, found in 2007, towered 70 cm above the ground. Its weight was 20 kg. Now scientists are trying to determine whether coffee trees have a positive effect on mushrooms, which contributes to their rapid growth.

Christian Terren discovered a raincoat in the forest that was amazing in its size. This mushroom was found in Canada. A raincoat weighing 26 kg was first encountered in this country. It was discovered by chance and immediately hit the pages of newspapers. Thanks to its hidden location and favorable weather conditions the mushroom was able to reach colossal sizes.

Biologists still cannot determine the type of mushroom found in the Yunnan province of China. This amazing creature had one leg and a lot of small caps that merged into one top. The diameter of such an unusual cap reached 1 m. The macromycete weighed 15 kg.

The real giant was discovered in the Italian province of Baria. A resident of one of the villages near his home came across a huge champignon. The weight of the find reached 14 kg. A thorough examination showed that this giant is quite edible. The champignon was taken home by a lucky mushroom picker and cooked. There were enough dishes from it to arrange a small feast for the inhabitants of the house and their neighbors.

Another record holder was a huge raincoat, weighing 12 kg. This giant mushroom was found in Perm region. But, according to biologists, larger raincoats are also found in Russia. According to unconfirmed reports, micromycetes were identified, the weight of which reached 20 kg. The found mushroom was taken to Perm University for study.

A place of honor among the largest mushrooms goes to varnished tinder fungus. Residents of the small Chinese town of Hezhou managed to discover the giant. The Chinese call this mushroom lingzhi. It has been used for more than 2000 years in alternative medicine for the preparation of healing potions. The weight of the find was 7.5 kg, and the diameter of this giant reached 107 cm.

Another mushroom of significant size was discovered in Russia. A huge boletus was found by a resident of the Tomsk region. The hat of the discovered giant reached 36 cm in diameter. The stem of the mushroom rose 28 cm above the ground. The mushroom was edible and not damaged by worms. Weighing showed that the found giant weighs 2.4 kg.

After the rainy season, a young girl from England managed to discover a huge raincoat. The diameter of the giant was 46 cm, and its weight was 2 kg. For rainy England, such huge mushrooms are not at all uncommon. True, they rarely grow to such sizes. Often forest animals feast on them or they end up in the baskets of mushroom pickers.

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 V American state Oregon to national park Mahler. 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 one often finds big mushrooms, however, as the girl says, most of mushrooms did not reach such large sizes because they were 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.

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 of 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.

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 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.

Meanwhile, desperate nerds 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.

Mushroom monster

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.

The largest mushroom on the planet grew in Malheur National Park in Oregon in the 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.

“This is a single organism that begins its growth as a microscopic spore and then spreads like a plant,” say experts, “and if we could remove the bud and look at everything that remains, we would see a large single pile of one mushroom with all the threads mycelium."

Giant mushrooms

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.

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 no one had ever 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. Half a ton

The largest mushroom in the world

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.

Mushrooms are a separate class of amazing living organisms. But the most big plant are algae. According to the website, the largest plant in the world is Posidonia.
Subscribe to our channel in Yandex.Zen

You can relax in different ways. For some it is reading a book or watching a long-awaited film, for others it is a picnic with noise and barbecue. Standing somewhat apart are people who prefer to spend time in nature in an interesting, if lucky, profitable way. Hunting for animals and/or birds, fishing, mushroom picking. The last type of active pastime in the forest always has its fans. It's enough for someone to admire autumn forest, breathing fresh air, someone definitely needs to find the largest mushroom in the world in order to surprise everyone, hang up their photo with a miracle of nature in their hands. , which both neophytes and experienced mushroom pickers can count on when going on a quiet hunt.

Giants of Russia

When talking about mushroom picking, of course, most people mean absolutely edible mushrooms, having a familiar shape, color and delicious smell, and not those varieties that frighten you with their mere appearance, and they must be prepared with the caution of a Japanese chef conjuring puffer fish.

First of all, these are mushrooms whose names are familiar from childhood, and whose collection experience goes back centuries:

• Boletus. The most recently described case of finding a giant specimen, about which there was a short TV report on the Rossiya TV channel, occurred in 2011 in the Omsk region. Alexey Korol, a mushroom picker with considerable experience, found a mushroom with a cap diameter of 36 cm. The height of the giant’s leg is 28 cm, weight is 2.4 kg. What was especially surprising and pleasing about the find was that it turned out not to be wormy.

• Mushroom, which many mushroom pickers consider the only one worthy of pickling. Mentions of preparation methods can be found even in monastery chronicles. By the way, in the West it is considered inedible. The mushroom is very dense, so even with its small size it is quite weighty. Unfortunately, there were no reliable facts about the record load. It is only known that the cap is 25 cm in diameter; almost a kilogram weight is not the limit for it.

• Ryzhik. The second most important mushroom for pickling, but has great taste and fried. You can also salt it and bake it over a fire right in the forest. The cap is 20 cm, the weight is about 0.5 kg - the limit for an edible specimen, which no one has ever enjoyed before the mushroom picker.

• Oil can. Those who have at least once tasted the taste of buttered potatoes fried with onions, are happy to collect them in clean coniferous forests. This mushroom is not striking in size. Unfortunately, it is highly valued not only by people, but also forest dwellers, from worms to squirrels. Therefore, you should not wait for record sizes, but send the boletus into the basket.

• Porcini or boletus - the dream of many, king Russian forests. The mushroom is very dense, with a rich (even dried) smell. There is information about the discovery in 1961 in a forest near Moscow of a porcini mushroom with a 60-centimeter cap, weighing about 11 kg, which is impressive. Today this is the largest white mushroom in the world, but nothing lasts forever, and a new record is waiting for its lucky owner.

Some facts:

• Fungi are living organisms, and not lower plants, as previously thought. At the same time, they combine some characteristics of animals and plants.
• There are more than 100 thousand. various types, of which for lovers quiet hunt Macromycetes are of interest.
• These are mushrooms with massive fruiting bodies, which are so nice to put in a basket, are hat ones. These also include puffballs and tinder mushrooms, which, as they say, are not for everyone. A separate type, the “macromycete” variety of mushrooms, as they like to mindlessly label the find in many photographs, does not exist.
• Of all the others, the only thing of interest to lovers of forest walks is the medicinal birch mushroom- chaga, which is easy to find; yeast, which was used to make dough for pies on the road; kombucha, which gives a sour drink that perfectly quenches thirst after a quiet hunt.
• All cap mushrooms, which are of greatest interest to mushroom pickers, scientists divide them into two more groups: basidiomycetes and marsupials.
• For example, boletus, boletus, milk mushroom, oiler, honey fungus, saffron milk cap are basidial, and the famous truffle and mushrooms with unpleasant names: morel, string - are marsupial mushrooms.

Miracles on a global scale

News about foreign achievements in the search for record mushrooms is also interesting, although it often evokes mixed feelings. But first things first, immediately discarding the “information” with the obvious use of Photoshop about “macromycetes” found all over the world with multi-meter legs, caps, weighing hundreds of kilograms:

• Truffle. A very tasty mushroom, most valued by gourmets, weighing 7 kg was found in the south of Italy. A real record.

• Lingzhi or lacquered tinder fungus. A 7.5-kilogram specimen was found in China. It also grows in Russia - in warm climates. Black Sea coast Caucasus. Considering that this medicine traditional medicine, By appearance differs little from birch chaga, with nutritional value equal to zero, it is unlikely that he should be included among the contenders for victory.

• Champignon. A specimen weighing 14 kg was found in Italy.

• Raincoats huge size– from 0.5 to 1.72 (!) m in diameter, found from Russia, Great Britain to Canada. Since the nutritional and taste value of this bag of spores is very conditional, and, according to the Russian “table of ranks”, among edible mushrooms it is classified in the 4th, last category (little known, rarely collected), it is unlikely that these giants should be considered successful finds, shocked the world.

If we agree with the Guinness Book of Records, then the first place was taken by the Americans, who accidentally discovered a giant mycelium that had lived quietly for 2,500 years, slowly destroying a relict forest in Oregon on an area of ​​880 (!) hectares, with only small fruits on the surface measuring a few centimeters in size.

Armed with the advanced achievements of American propaganda, they awarded it the title of “the largest mushroom in the world” and are now resting on their laurels, while a lot of sites trustingly copy the amazing, exciting story about this “macromycete”. It seems that with the same success the biggest mushroom can be considered what is located under Belovezhskaya Pushcha in Belarus, the Siberian or Far Eastern taiga. Then the scale of records will reach a new level, unprecedented in the United States.

What mushroom picker is not happy with a successful “hunt”? Especially if all the mushrooms found are not only strong and clean, but also large. However, experts constantly warn about the dangers of eating such specimens.

It turns out that mushrooms are capable of unusually quickly accumulating toxic products, which the planet’s nature is rich in today thanks to human activity. In addition, it is impossible to say exactly what influenced the growth of the common fungus. Most likely, a mutation was to blame. It is unknown what reaction the body will have when dining with such handsome men.

Of course, the largest mushrooms are not always classified as edible. Sometimes they become a real decoration national reserves, and many people specially come to look at the forest miracle. For example, in Oregon, USA, there is National Park Mahler, in which anyone can see the Armilaria ostoyae mushroom, the size of which is comparable to 1220 football fields. Scientists believe that the mushroom has existed in this world for about 2,400 years.

A truly huge edible mushroom was discovered in Canada by Jean Guy Richard. The circumference of Calvatia gigantean, a common raincoat, was 2.4 meters and its weight was 22 kilograms. This is not the only case in the world of finding mushrooms of unusual size.

Residents of Mexico are often lucky to receive such surprises. Back in 2007, in the state of Chiaps, a mushroom was found on the territory of coffee plantations, whose length was 60 cm and its weight reached 20 kilograms. Also, an equally curious specimen with approximately the same weight was soon discovered on a coffee plantation. The Mexican biologist himself was surprised by his discovery. I wonder what fertilizers Mexican planters add to the soil if real giants often grow on their lands.

In Italy, a kind of record was also recorded. A huge champignon, weighing approximately 14 kilograms, was found in the province of Baria by a certain Francesco Quito. To transport the handsome man home, the mushroom picker needed to use a car. The size of the forest gift turned out to be so impressive. By the way, in Italy mushrooms are quite expensive, so you can make great money from such a find. However, many mushroom pickers prefer to eat their “prey” themselves, despite the opportunity to strengthen their financial situation. This is what happened to the “mushroom hunter” - an Italian who brought home a truffle weighing 7 kilograms. The family could not eat the handsome man on their own and arranged a real feast for the neighbors, frying the delicious mushroom.

Large mushrooms are periodically found in all parts of the world. These findings are the subject of discussion at long years and an example for subsequent mushroom pickers. Everyone wants to prove that luck is on their side. Probably, the mushroom, which weighed 2 kilograms, will not be constantly mentioned in the world press. However, for residents of the English county of Staffordshire, such a large mushroom came as a surprise. It was discovered by a young girl in 2011. The size of the mushroom in diameter was 47 cm.

Terri Hodson Walker, 25 years old, became a local celebrity after this incident. She owns land and often sees large mushrooms. However, so far she has not come across anything that could be compared to her giant find, although she often discovers large mushrooms on her lands. Terry believes that many mushrooms could actually grow to that size. Apparently, they simply do not have time to do this, since wild animals love to feast on young mushrooms. In addition, the delicate structure of mushrooms is highly susceptible to the influence of unfavorable factors.

Be that as it may, the discovery of mushrooms that are truly impressive in size is relatively rare. It is not surprising that a “hunter” who is lucky strives to notify the whole world about his luck.