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Ten wild, wacky and wonderful facts about the world of fungi

Here we delve into this mind-boggling realm to discover ten of weirdest, wackiest and most wonderful facts from the world of fungi! 

Photo showing a Yellow Brain fungus on a piece of dead wood on the forest floor. The bright yellow of the fungus stands out against the dark wood and leaf covered floor.

There at least five kingdoms in our living world, including; animals, plants, fungi, protists, and the prokaryotes (which includes bacteria). While the animal and plant kingdoms are well known, fungi are often overlooked – but the world of fungi is fascinating! And they’re all around us. A network of fungi runs through the earth in every continent and can even be found in our seas.  

Here we explore more of this incredible kingdom to share our passion for all things fungi. From a distant ancestral connection to how some fungi can survive on radioactive sites – read on for 10 wild, wacky and wonderful facts about the world of fungi!

1. The largest organism in the world is a fungus

Known as the Humungous Fungus, a single Armillaria organism, found in Oregon, is approximately 931 square hectares or around 70 football pitches! 

The fungus is measured including its network of mycelium that run underground, so much of the mass cannot be seen. While it’s unlikely you’ll come across anything of quite that size, there are some pretty big fungi you might find on your doorstep.

An illustration of a cream coloured Giant Puffball sat on a grass moundFor instance, another fungus species, the Giant Puffball Calvatia gigantea (shown in the illustration below) produces large, round fruiting bodies that can be seen above ground. They’re certainly hard to miss, as they can grow up to 80cms in diameter (outside of the UK, they have been known to grow as big as 1.5m). They can grow to such a size that on occasion, people have mistaken them for sheep in a field!

2. Fungi and humans share a distant ancestor

Fungi is a kingdom all of its own, so we don’t want to mistake it for being a plant or animal. That said, while you might expect that these interesting organisms are more closely related to plants – the opposite is true. Fungi share a common ancestor with the animal kingdom, which includes humans, dating back around 1 billion years. [1]

While that may seem an incomprehensible length of time, it might not be in the world of fungi. We don’t have conclusive evidence of how old fungi can be. Research suggests that some of the fungi on our planet today, have been alive for thousands of years. 

The ‘Humungous Fungus’ is estimated to be between 1,900 and 8,650 years old! [2] Which means there could be living fungi that were present when the Vikings landed in the UK, when the Romans ruled and even when Stonehenge was erected. 

3. Fungi can be found all around your kitchen 

Fungi might be a common feature on your breakfast plate, or in a bowl of pasta – but there are many other foods that contain fungi, which might surprise you. 

Did you know that bread, beer, wine and some cheeses all include types of fungi? Yeast-forming fungi are an essential ingredient in the processes to make them and there are many different species, the most common of which is Saccharomyces cerevisiae, used in brewing and making bread.  

As far as we know today there are more than 2,000 species of edible fungi in the world. [3] These range from the popular Button and Chestnut Mushrooms Agaricus bisporus to the mycoprotein that makes up the meat substitute Quorn. And they are becoming even more popular with Lion’s Mane Hericium erinaceus being added to some coffees and fungi being used to help ferment cacao beans to make chocolate!  

Photo shows a number of clear test tubes resting in a yellow tray. There is a plant in a vase behind the test tubes.

4. Fungi are friends not (just) food

That’s right, fungi aren’t just contained to your kitchen, you can probably find them all around house from your wardrobe to your medicine cabinet and even your beauty bag. 

One common example of fungi used in medicine is Penicillin, the first antibiotic, which was derived from Penicillium mould. Other fungi produce compounds that are used to treat diseases like cancer, high cholesterol and even organ transplant rejection. 

In the beauty industry mushrooms are becoming a common feature of skincare products as many have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. They have even been trialled as a renewable replacement for dyes in cosmetics. 

Fungal enzymes are also used in the processing and production of a variety of products including paper, leather, cotton and biofuels – and generally they replace harsher chemicals in these processes. 

5. Fungi are helping our planet – in more ways than one

Fungi are essential for the nutrient cycles of the planet by acting as natural decomposers for organic matter. This means that as plants die, fungi help to break them down. In fact fungi are the only group of organisms that can break down plant cell walls. 

But research suggests that fungi could also break down other substances, in a process which could be used to clean our planet. Mycoremediation, is a process that uses fungi to break down substances that cause pollution. 

This process can be seen in action in places like the Amazon rainforest where local landowners are using these techniques to rid the ground of crude oil contamination. 

Currently researchers are also using fungi to create filters to clean water. They’ve even found a species called Aspergillus tubingensis, which can break down plastics! [4]

And five years after the nuclear disaster at Chernobyl, the fungi Cryptococcus neoformans, was found feeding on radiation. [5] Scientists are now exploring the possibilities of this incredible fungus, looking at whether its abilities could help protect astronauts from radiation in space. 

Photo shows lots of of Sulphur Tuft mushrooms on the bottom of a tree. The photo is taken in the day and shows the beige or tan colouring of the small umbrella-shaped mushrooms.

6. There are fungi that can glow in the dark

Bioluminescence is a phenomenon where a living organism is able to produce and emit light. You might have seen this trait in fireflies in the sky or algae in the water, but more than 70 types of fungi can also glow in the dark. [6]

Some of these fascinating fungi that can be found around the world include Sulphur Tuft Hypholoma fasciculare (pictured on the right, in the daytime), Jack-O’Lantern Mushroom Omphalotus olearius, and Little Ping-Pong Bats Panellus pusillus. 

You can even find some of these luminescent fungi in the UK – though they are rarer and weaker here than in other parts of the world. 

Photograph shows a fallen, decaying tree of the forest floor, covered in hundreds of mushrooms.

7. Fungi store carbon

While plants have long been heralded for their ability to store carbon, they are not the only organisms capable of doing so. 

Fungi help break down organic material, using the carbon recycled by plants, and store this carbon as mycelium underground. This process helps lock atmospheric carbon in the soil, as well as releasing other nutrients into the soil which can help plants grow.  

Scientists estimate that fungi could be storing up to 13.12 billion metric tons of carbon annually! [7]

8. People have been using fungi for thousands of years

We might still be finding new and exciting ways to benefit from fungi today, but our ancestors paved the way.  

Most notably, a number of harvested fungi were found in the bag of Otzi ‘The Iceman’. Otzi’s mummified remains were discovered on the Italian-Austrian border in 1991. He had different species of fungi with him, though the intended uses of these cannot be known. Otzi is estimated to have been alive between 3350 and 3105 BC, meaning humans have been connected to fungi for at least 5,000 years!

Photograph shows a few Jelly Ear Fungi on tree, that is also covered in moss. The fungi are a dark brown in colour and almost perfectly resemble the shape of a human ear.

9. Fungi come in all shapes and sizes

While we tend to think of fungi in that stereotypical umbrella form, they can come in a variety of different sizes and shapes – including some pretty impressive lookalikes! 

Take the Jelly Ear Fungus Auricularia auricula – a common fungus that you can often find on decaying or dead Elder. This odd fungus gets its name because it looks and feels, almost completely like a human ear! 

Then there’s Dead Man’s Fingers Xylaria polymorpha! Just about as creepy visually as it sounds. The fruiting bodies are long and club shaped, and could easily be mistaken for a hand poking up out of the soil. 

Finally, a much less scary lookalike, is the Bird’s Nest Fungus Crucibulum laeve – named because it’s fruiting body almost perfectly resembles a tiny bird’s nest filled with eggs! When it rains, drops splash into the nest shape and knock out one of the little discs, which contain the spores, helping them to spread. 

10. Fungi might be able to make their own ‘weather’

OK, it’s all relative – you’re not going to find a mushroom that brings out the blue skies or creates a thunderstorm over your town. But there is research to suggest that some species, including Shitake Lentinula edodes and Oyster Mushrooms Pleurotus ostreatus could create their own mini weather systems. [8]

The science behind this phenomenon is evaporative cooling. Mushrooms release water, which evaporates in the warm air, turning into water vapour. The water vapour then cools the air, which sinks and the warm air in turn rises. As the air moves it creates a small breeze, probably not one that we would notice – but it’s enough for the fungi. 

Even a whisper of a breeze can help to disperse the tiny spores and spread them over a larger distance. This trick is especially helpful on hot days where there isn’t any wind to assist.

  • References

    1. Read more about animals distant connection to fungi in this report. 
    2. Read more about the ‘Humongous Fungus’ in this report. 
    3. Read more about edible fungi in this report. 
    4. Read more about how fungi can help clean water and break down plastics here. 
    5. Read about how fungi have been surviving in radiation here. 
    6. Learn about glowing fungi here.  
    7. Read more about how fungi store carbon here. 
    8. Read more about fungi’s own weather systems here. 

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