Mushroom found - Spanning 35 hectares (86 acres)

'Europe's biggest mushroom' found
The Honey Mushroom (Armillaria ostoyae)
The fungus is a formidable parasite, which can kill trees
Swiss scientists have found what they say may be Europe's biggest mushroom - covering an area about the size of 35 football pitches.

The fungus was discovered in a national park near the eastern town of Ofenpass, said the Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Countryside Research (WSL).

Spanning 35 hectares (86 acres), the mostly underground fungus is believed to be 1,000 years old, the WSL added.

The Honey Mushroom (Armillaria ostoyae) is edible, but it can kill trees.

BBC News

That's a big mushroom and 1,000 years old! What else is going on beneath us, if this can happen?

Originally posted by curme
The fungus was discovered in a national park near the eastern town of Ofenpass, said the Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Countryside Research (WSL).

Spanning 35 hectares (86 acres), the mostly underground fungus is believed to be 1,000 years old, the WSL added.

What needs to be discovered is, how did an 86 acre mushroom go 1000 years without being discovered?

The Honey Mushroom (Armillaria ostoyae) is edible, but it can kill trees.

86 acres of edible mushrooms should feed a lot of people, unless they turn it into a "preserve".

While it may be the biggest in Europe, it's just a drop in the bucket compared to the one in eastern Oregon that covers 2,200 acres.

www.thecarolinachannel.com...

and you thought you had a mushroom problem.

Originally posted by orionthehunter
and you thought you had a mushroom problem.

You can have problems with mushrooms?

Why is it these types of articles never have a picture of the amazing feat of nature? I think they do it on purpose.

That is a big ole shroom. I had no idea that mushrooms could live for 1000 years, did you? You learn something new everyday I guess.

doctorduh

Originally posted by Esoterica
Why is it these types of articles never have a picture of the amazing feat of nature? I think they do it on purpose.

Because there's nothing to take a photo of. It's not a mushroom like you buy at the store, it's a fungal growth under the surface of the ground and leafcover.