This 2,400 Year Old Mushroom Is The Largest Living Organism On The Planet

Nature's surprises for us are countless. The largest living thing on Earth is a mushroom: Armillaria Ostoyae. It covers an area of ​​890 hectares, most of its mass is underground and is therefore unknown. Its age is estimated between 2400 years and 8000 years.That’s one giant mushroom, folks! It’s not the Blue Whale. In fact, it has a total weight of more than 20 Blue Whales, and here’s a hint: Alice would be proud.

Armillaria root disease infects new hosts when uninfected roots of susceptible trees contact infected stumps or roots. The fungus grows across root contacts and invades the root tissues of new hosts. It is able to spread along both live and dead roots. Spread also occurs to a lesser extent by rhizomorphs, which can grow a few feet through soil to infect nearby host roots.