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20 Most Bizarre Mushroom And Fungi Species In The World

Yayınlanma: 28 June 2024 - 02:10

Mushrooms are found almost everywhere in the world. Almost 14,000 specious mushrooms currently inhabiting dank forest floors, decaying tree trunks, and dung piles, there are bound to be some strange-looking varieties. Many of the most bizarre mushrooms on the planet are extremely elusive. Here's something you probably didn't know: fungi are the unsung heroes of tree and plant care. Here is the 20 of our favorite fungi facts.

Dung Cannon (Pilobus crystallinus): The name of the Dung Cannon mushroom is a fairly straightforward, albeit weird, one. First, these strange mushrooms mainly originate in — and love to grow on — animal feces. Straightforward enough, sure. But here's where it gets interesting: this fungus is actually the fastest living thing on the planet. Just like a true cannon, this fungus launches spores faster than a bullet from a gun. The action is invisible to the naked eye, but the travel rate for a Dung Cannon spore is about 82 feet per second, though each ejaculation usually only travels about six feet. In terms of g-force, that's over 180,000 g's. For reference, normal humans can withstand no more than 9 g's at a time — and only for a few seconds. As a result, they are often eaten by grazing animals and pass through their digestive tracts, starting their growth cycle over again but inside the animal feces this time.