Fungus is Good
Fungus is great stuff. No seriously, it is! The largest living organisms on Earth are actually giant fungal bodies. One of the largest is a member of the species Armillaria ostoyae, or the “honey mushroom”. It lives in the Malheur National Forest in eastern Oregon, and covers 2200 acres of land, buried about 3 feet under the surface.
The complex mycelial network is a cohesive living organism, even sharing and transporting fluids across itself. It feeds by using tentacles called rhizomorphs to attack the roots of trees, stealing moisture and nutrients. This particular specimen is probably around 2600 years old, though could be as old as 7200 years.
Several large fungi of the genus Armillaria have been found, though the one in Malheur National Forest is the largest currently identified fungus. Research suggests that this is actually quite probable, and that we probably haven’t found the largest fungi of them all.
Most research surrounding the large fungi isn’t concerned with how large it is, but with how to determine that it is a single individual. Unlike an animal, there is no ‘skin’ to tell you how to differentiate between individuals. The researchers now attempt to use genetic matching to positively identify different areas of the fungus as genetically identical, and use other techniques to determine if the fungus is sharing nutrients and fluids with other parts of itself, things that would clearly show that it is a single organism, and not just a random network of tissue.
In any case, it is quite amazing that such things exist. If you were to walk through the forest in the early fall, you might find little patches of honey mushrooms (which are quite edible and delicious). As scattered and individual as they would seem, they are only the tip of the mighty fungal iceberg living beneath the soil. Most fungi are this way in some part. The mushroom you see is only the final fruiting result of a potentially very large organism living deep underground.
I, for one, welcome our new fungal overlords.
For more fungal reading:
- Tom Volk’s Fungus of the Month – Excellent fungal reading! September’s fungus of the month was the appetizing, Russula emetica, AKA, the ‘vomiting Russula’. What will October’s fungus of the month be? Well, you’ll just have to check and see!
- Fungi Perfecti – The company operated by Paul Stamets, a researcher doing excellent work in the field of toxic spill cleanup using fungus (such as the lowly oyster mushroom!). Excellent source of mushroom kits for indoor or outdoor culture, and lots of good books and information.
- More to come (make suggestions)!
Thursday 07 Oct 2004 | Sam | Lovely Links