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Tag: mushroom

  • Giant Pennsylvania Mushroom Sculpture

    Kennett Square, a borough in Chester County, Pennsylvania, also known as the Mushroom Capitol of the World, plans to drop a 700-pound stainless steel toadstool sculpture, during a midnight countdown at its annual Mushroom Festival.

    State Representative John Lawrence tapped Kathi Lafferty, coordinator of the annual Mushroom Festival, to commission the huge fungal sculpture. “Being the mushroom capital of the world, I don’t know, why not,” said Lafferty. The mushroom drop will be the finale of “Midnight in the Square,” an event with music, food and other entertainment, which is part of the annual labor day festival that draws roughly 100,000 visitors.

    The steel mushroom, which will measure over seven feet wide and eight feet tall, was paid for by To-Jo Mushrooms, who’d donated $6,000 to the project. Bob’s Crane Service is donating the crane for the drop.

    Kennett Square is known as the Mushroom Capitol of the World, as mushroom farming in the region produces over a million pounds of the edible fungus per week. In addition to the Kennet Square event, there are several mushroom festivals held annually across the country. There’s an event in Telluride, Colorado, the Morel Mushroom Festival held in Harrison and Boyne City, Michigan, as well as the Mushroom Mardi Gras Festival held in Morgan Hill, California.

    Below is of photo montage concerning the sort of things that go on at a Kennett Square Mushroom Fest:

    In related news, last month in Leslie, Michigan, giant mushrooms of the real variety were found in the back yard of the Delaney family manor. The mushrooms in that instance were of the Giant puffball type, Calvatia gigantea, to be exact.

    Despite the impending Kennett Square mushroom’s impressive stats, it pales in comparison to the giant honey mushroom that exists in Oregon. That ‘shroom is the largest known living organism, spanning 2,200 acres around tree roots in the densely populated Malheur National Forest.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons.

  • Giant Mushrooms Found in Michigan Yard

    Giant Mushrooms Found in Michigan Yard

    Giant mushrooms popped up one night recently in a backyard in Leslie, Michigan, confounding the Delaney family, and impressing plant biologists.

    Ed Delaney decided to surprise his wife Amy with a bulbous, fungal mass he’d found out back – Mrs. Delaney explains, “I walked in and his arms were literally filled with this huge, disgusting white mass.” Ed adds, “I had this mushroom the size of two basketballs, and it kind of shocked her.” Amy had been expecting flowers or something, due to the couple’s upcoming anniversary.

    Alas, this wasn’t the last of the mushroom intrigue. A few days later, Amy found her own mushroom surprise. These ‘shrooms are a hot topic around the Delaney manor. Madison Gomez, daughter of the Delaneys, said, “I had two of my friends over Friday. I told them about the mushroom, and they, I guess they didn’t believe me. So I showed them and I guess they had second thoughts.” How could one not?

    The mushrooms in question are of the Giant puffball variety, Calvatia gigantea, to be exact. Giant puffball mushrooms are commonly found in fields, meadows and deciduous forests worldwide, usually in late summer and autumn. It is common fungus throughout Europe and North America.

    Most Giant puffballs grow to be 3.9 to 28 inches in diameter, though some can grow to 59 inches and weigh 44 pounds. Jonathan Walton, Professor of Plant Biology at Michigan State University, said of the Delaney find, “I’ve never seen specimens this big before. It’s pretty impressive, especially when you consider they grow up literally overnight.”

    Professor Walton warns against eating the Giant puffballs, because one can never truly be sure exactly when a mushroom’s dangerous fruiting body begins to develop. Walton says that one shouldn’t really even touch strange mushrooms. The fruiting body of a Giant puffball can contain up to several trillion spores. Spores are yellowish, smooth, and 0.00012 to 0.00020 inches in size.

    While the Giant puffball is an impressive mushroom, the giant honey mushroom is still the world’s largest organism.

    Image via WILX.

  • Giant Honey Mushroom Still Unseated As Largest Despite New Find

    The giant honey mushroom found growing in Oregon in 1998 is still the largest known living organism, taking up a whopping 2,200 acres as it grows on tree roots in the densely populated Malheur National Forest. However, a new fungus found in China that measures 37 inches across the top and weighs over 30 pounds is garnering quite a bit of attention this week as a new contender for biggest mushroom.

    Scientists are studying the new species and haven’t been able to identify it yet, though some are hopeful that it will prove to be edible; China’s mushroom industry is a multi-million dollar business as the fungi are highly prized for various meal ingredients and many are considered delicacies.

    As for the giant honey mushroom, it has the unfortunate side effect of killing the trees it feeds off of, leaving dead space throughout the forest. They are, however, edible.

    “But they don’t taste the best. I would put lots of butter and garlic on them,” Tina Dreisbach, a botanist and mycologist with the U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Research Station in Corvallis, Oregon, said.