Mycelial Mat Of Honey Mushroom Largest

Armillaria ostoyae synonym armillaria solidipes is a species of plant pathogenic fungus in the family physalacriaceae it is the most common variant in the western united states of the group of species under the name armillaria mellea.

Mycelial mat of honey mushroom largest.

It s estimated to be over 2 200 years old. More precisely a specific honey fungus measuring 2 4 miles 3 8 km across in the blue mountains in oregon is thought to be the largest living organism on earth. The largest organism on earth is a fungus the blue whale is big but nowhere near as huge as a sprawling fungus in eastern oregon by anne casselman on october 4 2007. Mellea species known as honey fungi that live on trees and woody shrubs.

The largest known organism of the species armillaria ostoyae covers more than 3 4 square miles 8. Fungi future mycelium. But oregon s is the largest ever measured. A mushroom extract fed to honey bees greatly reduces virus levels according to a new paper.

The fungus was investigated more closely by researchers when they realized that it was responsible for killing large groves of evergreen trees. It includes about 10 species formerly categorized summarily as a. The honey mushroom exists in other places like michigan and germany. Armillaria ostoyae is common on both hardwood and conifer wood in forests west of the cascade range in oregon united states.

Oct 31 2017 tagged. The majority of honey fungus species have rhizomorphs or mycelial cords. Mycelial networks can live for hundreds if not thousands of years and spread across vast distances. One patch of honey fungus armillaria ostoyae is thought to be the largest organism in the world.

In field trials colonies fed mycelium extract showed a 79 fold reduction in deformed wing virus and a. When foresters cut into an infected tree they would find spreading white filaments mycelia which draw water and. Armillaria is a genus of parasitic fungi that includes the a. The largest living organism in the world today is a honey fungus measuring 2 4 miles 3 8 km across in the blue mountains in oregon.

Mainly growing underground the mycelia of this patch covers over 2 400 acres in oregon. It is important to reiterate that just as a mushroom is not mycelium mycelium is also not a. In fact the largest organism on earth is a mycelial mat of a honey mushroom in eastern oregon that is 890 hectares in size and over 2 000 years old.