What is the largest living thing?

Honey mushroom is the largest living thing. Just feet below the floor of Malheur National Forest in Oregon, U.S.A., sprawls the world’s largest living organism: the honey mushroom. For more than 2,500 years, it has spread its fungal filaments through the soil and grown to the size of 1,600 football fields. Now that’s one humongous fungus!

Different types of honey fungus are found all over the world. They fruit nearly year round in warmer ecosystems, and in the late summer to fall in North America. The most well known species is probably Armillaria mellea. The majority of honey fungus species have “rhizomorphs” or “mycelial cords”. These rhizomorphs are black, stringy tendrils that are made up of fungus cells. Their purpose is to channel nutrients and spread the infection of the fungus. Many other types of mushrooms have these as well, but they’re smaller and white.

 

Picture Credit : Google