When you google world’s largest mushrooms you see the answer including all the underground stuff. But what is the mushroom that creates the largest above ground structure to distribute it’s spores?
If only mushroom-shaped mushrooms, perhaps Termitomyces titanicus or Phlebopus marginatus, depending on exactly how “largest” is defined.
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I guess they don’t give “mush room” for other mushrooms then (goodbye).
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Thank you!
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There’s also Calvatia gigantea, which can be huge!
This is what I was thinking. Up to 23 kg (50 pounds) and 2.6+ meters (8 feet) across. As a fruiting body this has to be a contender for the largest.
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2.6+ meters (8 feet) across.
That article says that that was circumference, not diameter - quick math assuming approximate circle-shape puts that at 0.85 meters across (they say diameter in the text of picture 3 but that clearly doesn’t match the scale of the people next to it).
Another probable contender as have been mentioned may be Phlebopus marginatus. The 2021 spring issue of the bulletin of the Danish Mycological Society mentions it as a curiosity (it grows in East Asia and Australia) and says that each year specimens measuring 50-60 cm across and weighing >20 kg are found and that the unverified world record is about a meter across and weights upwards of 30 kg.
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millions of years ago, there was Prototaxites, although evidence suggests it could have been a lichen rather than a pure fungus.
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I watched a video about these. Really cool.
From what I know, even Calvatia can be huge.
It is also very important how these mushrooms grow in general, for example depends on the area. Because the same size of different types of mushrooms can be completely different depending on the conditions under which they grow. I learned a lot about whether mushrooms need sunlight to grow https://www.mushrooms.online/do-mushrooms-need-light-to-grow-find-out-the-effects/ , you can read just what it depends on and what effects it gives to different types of mushrooms.
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