Largest fungal fruit bodies

The fruit body of the Chinese fungus Phellinus ellipsoideus, discovered in 2008, which is the largest recorded fungal fruit body in the world.

The largest mushrooms and conks are the largest known individual fruit bodies. These are known as sporocarps, or, more specifically, basidiocarps and ascocarps for the Basidiomycota and Ascomycota respectively. These fruit bodies have a wide variety of morphologies, ranging from the typical mushroom shape, to brackets (conks), puffballs, cup fungi, stinkhorns, crusts and corals. Many species of fungi, including yeasts, moulds and the fungal component of lichens, do not form fruit bodies in this sense, but can form visible presences such as cankers. Individual fruit bodies need not be individual biological organisms, and extremely large single organisms can be made up of a great many fruit bodies connected by networks of mycelia (including the "humongous fungus", a single specimen of Armillaria solidipes) can cover a very large area.

The largest identified fungal fruit body in the world is a specimen of Phellinus ellipsoideus (formerly Fomitiporia ellipsoidea). The species was discovered in 2008 by Bao-Kai Cui and Yu-Cheng Dai in Fujian Province, China. In 2011, the two of them published details of extremely large fruit body of the species that they had found on Hainan Island. The specimen, which was 20 years old, was estimated to weigh between 400 and 500 kilograms (880 and 1,100 lb). This was markedly larger than the previously largest recorded fungal fruit body, a specimen of Rigidoporus ulmarius found in the United Kingdom that had a circumference of 425 cm (167 in).

List

Species and family Distribution Dimensions Weight Comments
Phellinus ellipsoideus (formerly Fomitiporia ellipsoidea), Polyporaceae Southern China 35' 7" (10.85 m) long by 2' 9" (84 cm) broad by 2 in (5 cm) thick.[1][2] Between 884 lbs (402 kg) and 1,134 lbs (515.7 kg). This species was only discovered by science in 2008.
Rigidoporus ulmarius (formerly Polyporus actinobolus), Polyporaceae.[3] Western and Southern Europe. At the Int'l. Mycological Inst. at Kew Gardens, London in 1996. 5' 7" (1.7 m) wide by 4' 10" (1.47 m) broad by 21 in (53.3 cm) top to bottom.[4][5] 626 lbs (284.5 kg) in 1998. It perished after a family of foxes took residence beneath it.[6]
Bridgeoporus nobilissimus, Polyporaceae. Western Washington State, W'ern Oregon and NWern California. 4' 8" (1.42 m) wide by 3' 1" (94 cm) broad 3' 0" (91.5 cm) top to bottom. 300 lbs (136 kg). Species discovered in 1949 by Sandoz brothers. Displayed in offices of Weyerhauser Lumber Co. for many years.[7][8]
Meripilus giganteus (formerly Polyporus giganteus), Polyporaceae Europe. 4' 1" (1.25 m) width.[9] Thickness not stated. 154 lbs (70 kg). Found in 1930 in the Netherlands by a Mr. Lek.
Serpula lacrymans, Polyporaceae Originally native to Himalayan foothills, but now of pan-temperate distribution. 12 ft (3.66 m) wide by 15 ft (4.57 m) top to bottom. Thickness not stated. weight not stated. Found growing from an Oak beam in a tunnel in Doncaster, Yorkshire, England in 1858.[10][11][12]
Calvatia gigantea, Agaricaceae Of cosmopolitan distribution. One found in Herkimer County, New York in 1877 by Prof. R. Ellsworth Call was 5' 4" (1.63 m) wide by 4' 6" (1.37 m) broad by 9.5 in (24 cm) high.[13] Another,in Montreal, Quebec, found by Jean-Guy Richard in 1987 weighed 48 lb 8 oz (22 kg),[14] while another found in July 2012 by Christian Therrien of Sparwood, Canada claimed a weight of 57 lb (25.9 kg) which the accompanying photo seems to confirm.[15] A large Puffball can produce up to seven quintillion (7,000,000,000,000,000,000) spores;[16] enough to dust all the world's dry land with 43,750 spores per square foot.
Phlebopus marginatus, Boletaceae Native to humid regions of Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and Java. One found in South Australia prior to 1934 had a cap (pilea) 24 in (61 cm) wide by 18 in (46 cm) broad. same one (?) weighed 71 lbs 2 oz (32.34 kg)[17] another, at Hall's Gap, Victoria in 1939 weighed 63 lbs (28.6 kg) but was 2 ft 6.5 in (77.5 cm) across the cap.[18]
Ganoderma lucidum, Ganodermataceae China. This one Guangxi Province. Cap 3' 6" (107 cm) wide. Stem short; only ±3 in (± 7 cm) thick.[19][20] By one report 32 lbs 12 oz (14.9 kg) but by another 16 lbs 6 oz (7.45 kg). Fruiting body of G. lucidum can be a conk or a mushroom, depending on the orientation of the substrate.
Sparassis crispa, Sparassidaceae. The mountains of Europe, always in pine forest. One found in Mayres, France in October 2000. Dimensions not stated.[21][22] 63 lbs 3 oz (28.8 kg). The Clavariaceae do not form caps. The spores are produced on stalagmite-like growths.
Macrocybe titans Tricholomataceae. Found from North Florida to southern Brazil. An outlier was recently found in Athens, Georgia, USA. One found in Chiapas State, Mexico in July 2007 measured 27in (68.8 cm) across the cap and also 27in (68.8 cm) in height. Another in Costa Rica measured 3.25 ft (1.00 m) in width.[23][24][25] The Chiapas specimen weighed 44 lbs (20 kg). This species was only discovered in 1980 (originally named Tricholoma titans). It was apparently not known to native peoples. That such a conspicuous and widespread species escaped notice for centuries constitutes a major anomaly.
Bondarzewia berkeleyi, Bondarzewiaceae.[26] Eastern North America, Europe, China, New Zealand and New Guinea among other places. Nowhere is it common. Subterranean tuber (sclerotium) produces from one to five funnel-shaped concentric caps sharing a common stalk. Total width up to 3.25 ft (1 m).[27][28] Tuber and funnels can total up to 50 lbs (22.7 kg). One found in Lawrence, Kansas in 2008 was 3 ft (90 cm) wide and weighed 15 lbs (6.8 kg), but it is not clear whether the sclerotium was included.[29]
Cerioporus squamosus, Polyporaceae Cosmopolitan distribution. One found by a Mr. Hopkirk at Dalbeth, Scotland in 1810 was 7' 5" (226 cm) in circumference.[30] It weighed 34 lbs (15.46 kg). .
Fomes fomentarius, Polyporaceae Widespread in north temperate zone. A specimen growing in France in 2008 measured 34.65 in (88 cm) in width by 24.41 in (62 cm) top to bottom.[31] Weight not stated. Formerly used as tender for flintlock rifles, and in medicine to control bleeding. Said to be "hard as wood".
Laccocephalum mylittae, Polyporaceae Australia. . Sclerotium weighs up to 40 lbs (18.18 kg).[32] Each subterranean sclerotium produces several mushrooms above ground.
Laetiporus sulphureus, Polyporaceae Widespread in Northern Hemisphere. Approximately half of a specimen found by Ty Whitmore near Maysville, Missouri in October 2005 was 30 in (76.2 cm) wide by 16 in (40.64 cm) top to bottom.[33][34][35] This portion weighed 56 lbs (25.46 kg) The other half fell into a creek and could not be recovered.
Termitomyces titanicus, Lyophyllaceae Zambia, and the Katanga (Shaba) region of Congo (Zaire), in Central Africa. The type specimen measured 2' 1" (63 cm) across the cap, and stood 22 in (56 cm) in height.[36][37] Weight not stated. Others are stated to be up to 39.37 in (1.0 m) in diameter.[38] This species was discovered by scientists in 1980 (a good year for mycology) as a common item in a native market.

Unidentified specimens

Two large specimens are excluded from the list above. The first, a polypore photographed in 1903 at Yeerongpilly, Brisbane, Queensland, measured about 6' 7" (2 m) in width by 3' 3" (1 m) top to bottom, emerging from a tree about two feet (61 cm) thick. It was sturdy enough to support the weight of two average women.[39] The second is more speculative. Somewhere in his world travels, writer/naturalist/explorer Ivan T. Sanderson encountered reports of a species of fungi which "weigh a ton, and upheave large trees".[40] The earliest report appears to have been in the writings of James Brooke.[41] It is not known whether Phellinus ellipsoideus is found outside of China, but it would be a prime candidate for the Sanderson/Brooke fungus.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Dai, YC; Cui, BK (September 2011). "Fomitiporia ellipsoidea has the largest fruiting body among the fungi". Fungal Biology. 115: 813–814. doi:10.1016/j.funbio.2011.06.008. PMID 21872178. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  2. ↑ "BBC Nature - Giant fungus discovered in China". bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  3. ↑ "Kew Magazine Blog - Come On A Fungal Foray". web.archive.org. Retrieved 2016-03-06.
  4. ↑ Guinness Book of World Records (1998 Am. edition)p. 143.
  5. ↑ Colin Tudge, The Variety of Life (Oxford, Eng.: Oxford Univ. Press, 2000) p. 159.
  6. ↑ http://www.fungi.com/info/articles/nobilissimus.html
  7. ↑ William B. Cooke, "Oxyporus nobilissimus...etc", MYCOLOGIA Vol. 41 # 4 (July–Aug. 1949) pp. 442-446
  8. ↑ http://botit.botany.wisc.edu/toms_fungi/june97.html Or go to his archives and click "June 97".
  9. ↑ Med. Bot. Mus. Univ. Utrecht # 9 (1933) pp. 1-278.
  10. ↑ Gardener's Chronicle Vol. 18 (first series)(May 15, 1858) p. 400.
  11. ↑ Frank Leslie's Sunday Magazine (1878) p. 604
  12. ↑ Frank Vincent, The Plant World (D. Appleton & co., 1897) p. 227.
  13. ↑ American Naturalist Vol. 18 # 5 (May 1884) p. 530.
  14. ↑ Guinness Book of Records (1994 American Edition) p. 55.
  15. ↑ http://www.cbc.ca/radiowest/2012/07/11/man-discovers-giant-mushroom/
  16. ↑ Colin Tudge,"Variety of Life" op. cit. p. 160.
  17. ↑ JohnBurton Cleland M.D., "Toadstools and Mushrooms and Other Large Fungi of South Australia" (Adelaide: Gov't Printer, 1934) pp. 190-191.
  18. ↑ Correspondance from Dr. H. J. Swart of Melbourne University.
  19. ↑ http://www.scmp.com/news/china-insider/article/1675693/around-nation-massive-lingzhi-mushroom-found-guangxi
  20. ↑ http://www.chinasmack.com/2015/pictures/giant-mushroom-over-100cm-wide-found-in-china-reactions.html
  21. ↑ "Earthweek - Diary of a Planet" for week of October 16, 2000, in ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER of that date.
  22. ↑ http://www.psms.org/sporeprints/sp368.html
  23. ↑ http://sigma21.wordpress.com/2007/07/16/63/
  24. ↑ http://www.fieldmuseum.org/expeditions/area_expedition/gallery_thumb13.html
  25. ↑ http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200707/r159235_580495'jpg
  26. ↑ http://www.wildmanstevebrill.com/Mushrooms.folder/Berkeley's.html
  27. ↑ http://www.mesiah.edu/Oaks/fungi_on_wood/poroid%20fungi/species%20Bondarzewia_berkeleyi.html
  28. ↑ http://www.morning-earth.org/Graphic-E/BIOSPHERE/FUNGI%20IMAGES/MINIMAX/BondarzewiaberkeleyiFischer34.jpg
  29. ↑ http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2008/jul/31/giant_mushroom_amazes_lawrence_residents/
  30. ↑ Sir William J. Hooker, "Flora Scotica" (London: Archibald Constable and Co., 1821) Vol. 2 p. 27.
  31. ↑ http://mycologia34.canalblog.com/archives/2009/06/29/14238572.html
  32. ↑ http://home.vicnet.net.au/~gfnc/articles/fungus.htm
  33. ↑ http://missourimorels.blogspot.com/2008/02/winter-reading.html
  34. ↑ http://www.clickorlando.com/print/5190145/detail.html
  35. ↑ https://mycotopia.net/topic/28123-45-lb-edibles/
  36. ↑ Kew Bulletin Vol. 35 # 3 (1980) pp. 479-482.
  37. ↑ http://www.spirit-of-the-land.photographer.htm
  38. ↑ Economic Botany Vol. 31 # 4 (Oct-Dec 1977) p. 436.
  39. ↑ The Strand Vol. 26 # 151 (July 1903) p. 117 (Photo with human figures)
  40. ↑ Ivan T. Sanderson and David Loth "Ivan Sanderson's Book of Great Jungles" (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1965) p. 156.
  41. ↑ Gardener's Chronicle Vol. 18 (second series)(1858) p. 400
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