The world of fungi is an absolutely fascinating, fantastical and fun field filled with little known knowledge and trivia. Here is just a sample of the millions of fun facts that exist on fungi…
Fungi survive in the vacuum of space
In one such space expedition, astronauts took fungi spores into space and released them into the vacuum of space where they instantaneously froze. The environment of zero oxygen and insanely cold temperatures would kill essentially anything on Earth, but when they brought the spores back indoors, the spores defrosted and were fine, able to generate fungal life. Believe it or not, this has almost solidified the theory that life on Earth began with spores from space.
The largest organism on Earth is a fungus
That’s right, the blue whale at 110 feet long and 200 tons is nothing but chopped liver compared to the Armillaria ostoyae, the honey mushroom. Specifically, the one particular ‘individual’ of that species that has all but taken over Oregon’s Malheur National Forest. This one covers 2,400 acres (3.7 miles2; 9.6 km2) and although composed of thin mycelium strings, weighs in between 7,500 and 35,000 tons! Oh, and it’s likely the oldest living organism too, estimated to be between 2,400 and 8,500 years old!
The Lobster Mushroom isn’t, in fact, a mushroom at all.
The Lobster Mushroom, Hypomyces Lactifluorum, is actually a parasite of mushrooms. Specifically of those in the genera Lactarius, Lactafluus, and Russula. The parasite can transform a typical looking gilled white mushroom (as an example) into a contorted, reddish-orange, gill-less specimen that smells and tastes somewhat like shellfish – hence Lobster. Even crazier, Hypomeces Lactifuorum actually replaces the DNA of the host mushroom with it’s own! Science has yet to determine when or how this occurs, and there is some caution considering that Hypomyces Lactifluorum can parasitize poisonous mushrooms. Yet, this is a very commonly sold mushroom around the world, and there are no reported cases of poisoning as a result of its consumption.
Less than 5% of species are recorded
In fact, we don’t know all the species, we don’t really have any clue how many species even exist. The ballpark estimate is between 2.2 million and 3.8 million species – which is quite the range! Of the millions of species that exist, only 149,000 were documented and described by taxonomists as of 2020. So if you were looking for the “last explored frontier” of Earth, you’ve found it.
No extinct species, but really…
The fungi kingdom has more species than the plant and animal kingdoms combined! We’re talking upwards of 4 million species! Despite this fact, fungi have been extremely understudied. It was only in 2014 when the UN added it’s first three fungi species to the IUCN’s Red List of Threatened Species. With just a bit more research conducted, by 2019, there were 214 listed species. By 2021 the list had grown to 425 fungi species. Since we haven’t even scratched the surface of documenting the various species, it is truly unknown how many are at risk, or have already gone extinct.
Mushrooms can consume plastic
Research has shown that over 90 species of fungus, including the Pleurotus Ostreatus (Oyster mushroom) and Pestalotiopsis microspore can consume and breakdown polyurethane. Fungi are experts at picking breaking down practically anything and consuming what it wants. As such, fungi have been shown to continuously breakdown plastic into finer and finer microplastics. Fungi will also consume the easiest food source first, and generally takes a while to consume anything. For this reason, while it’s a very interesting fact, it’s not a solution to the world’s plastic pollution – at least not yet.
Oyster mushrooms are kind of a miracle mushroom
The Oyster mushroom, Pleurotus ostreatus, is a particularly aggressive fungal species that can grow and consume just about anything. It doesn’t just consume plastic. It has been shown to also break down hard metals in contaminated lands and even petroleum products like crude oil. If that weren’t enough, they are also incredibly delicious. You can easily grow them at home from store-bought kits or find them in forests around the world.
Fungi was instrumental in building Earth as we know it.
While single cell organisms formed all life on earth, fungi had a unique role in developing Earth as we know it. Going back a billion years ago, our Earth had no plant life. In fact, soil didn’t even really exist, so no plant life could exist. Fungi’s hyphae points are considered some of the strongest matters on earth, able to break down rock, and it did just that. Over millions of year, fungi slowly absorbed the rock of our planet (with the help of other living organisms), turning it into the soil which laid the foundation for all plant life.
Fungi have external stomachs
Fungi wear their hearts on their sleeves, or more accurately, they wear their stomachs on their mycelium. The mycelium (those tiny white threads underground) excretes chemicals which will decompose the surrounding environment. Then the fungi will absorb what it needs for it’s own growth. They can consume just about anything organic or pseudo-organic including plastic, oil, heavy metals, cigarette butts, rock, wood, grain, and animals. So, pretty much everything!
Thank fungi for a major boost to human civilization
There are a number of theories on the specific reasons Homo sapiens stopped being nomadic and settled down to begin building communities. The most widely held theory is that of agriculture production. If you want to grow food, you need to settle in an area. After all, food doesn’t just pop up overnight. What was it that first had humans stop traveling? That debate continues today, though some argue it was some ancient grain to be used to make an early version of bread. Others argue grapes for wine production or hops and/or barley for beer production. While we may not know the answer, there is one common element to bread, wine and beer and that is yeast. Yeast is a fungi, and required for fermentation, which converts sugars into alcohol. Thank you fungi!
