Humongous fungus
Armillaria ostoyae · 奥氏蜜环菌
Occasional膨瑚菌科🔥 Edible With Preparation
Sources report it requires expert processing before it can be eaten; cases of poisoning from improper handling have been recorded.
The same species can be described differently across regions and stages of maturity, and countless look-alike species cannot be told apart by eye. Never use the information on this page to judge whether a real mushroom is safe to eat.
How to Tell
- Cap brown, with small dark scales
- Stem with a prominent white ring
- Grows in large clusters at conifer bases; underground mycelium can extend for kilometers
ID notes are compiled by AI from public sources, not reviewed by a mycologist, for learning only — never a basis for foraging.
Basics
- Family
- 膨瑚菌科
- Hymenium
- Gills
- Grows On
- Wood
- How Big
- 4–12 cm (cap diameter)
- Encounter Rate
- Occasional
- Habitat
- Roots of living conifers and stumps
Easily Confused With
Honey fungusCap honey-yellow to brown, with fine scales at the center
Funeral bellHumongous fungus is large, with a prominent ring, clumped at tree bases; funeral bell is small with a thin ring.Fun Fact
A single individual of this species in Oregon's Blue Mountains spreads its mycelial network across roughly nine square kilometers and is estimated to be thousands of years old — widely considered the largest single organism on Earth.