TilFriday: The Largest Organism On Earth

Today let's learn about the largest living organism on Earth.

This one is so huge and so massive that it can cover 1,665 football fields!
I'm talking about the "Humongous Fungus" or scientifically known as "Armillaria ostoyae". Yes! the largest organism on our planet is a giant fungus!

_{image by W.J.Pilsak, German language Wikipedia}

The humongous fungus, also known as "shoestring fungus" or "honey mushrooms" is discovered in Malheur National Forest in Oregon. Some scientists estimate that the fungus is 2,400 years old, while some believe that it exists even earlier, about 8000 years ago, making it the oldest organism too. While it may look as a colony or colonies of fungi, it actually has a single set of genetically identical cells that are coordinated and working as one making it the largest single specimen of its kind.

_{from USDA}

It covers 3.4 square miles or 2,200 acres (8.8 km2) of forest lands. It stays hidden for most of the year while its network of roots called mycellia creeps underground infecting trees and killing them by feeding off their roots. During autumns, it will bloom honey mushrooms that shows up at the base of infected or newly-killed trees.

If this fungal behemoth would be collected, authorities estimate that it
would weigh at least 7,500 tons, and potentially as much as 35,000 tons, or the combined weight of 200 gray whales.

This giant organism is a serious problem for forest managers and the timber industry as they try to find ways to mitigate its effect on trees that it kills slowly.

Eliminating an organism this big is out of the question and their only hope is to find a tree that can survive the humongous fungus.

Previously on #TilFriday:

The Golden Blood
Taking Photos Of The Eiffel Tower At Night Is Illegal

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_{Sources: | Wikipedia | OddityCentral | BusinessInsider | USDA | IFLScience}

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