Upsettingly Large Fungus in Michigan Weighs 440 Tons and Is 2,500 Years Old
George Dvorsky
Wednesday 5:15pmFiled to: Humongous fungus
It’s nicknamed the “humongous fungusâ€â€”an unusually large fungal growth belonging to a single genetic individual. An updated analysis of this gigantic fungal beast shows it’s substantially larger and older than scientists initially thought.
This single genetic individual, known as C1, belongs to a species of fungus called Armillaria gallica, otherwise known as the honey mushroom. When University of Toronto biologist James B. Anderson first studied this large growth in 1992, he was astounded by its sheer size. Anderson and his colleagues estimated that it was 1,500 years old, weighed 100,000 kilograms (110 tons) and covered around 37 acres (15 hectares) of forest floor in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. The C1 specimen, which has latched onto hundreds, if not thousands, of tree roots, was declared to be among the largest and oldest organisms on Earth.
https://gizmodo.com/upsettingly-large-fungus-in-michigan-weighs-440-tons-an-1830446176
