Up to 8.9 km2, this is the most giant creature on Earth ever known

This giant creature up to tens of square kilometers hidden under the ground of Malheur National Forest, Eastern Oregon (USA).

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For centuries, this mysterious creature bit by bit stretches its "arms" to embrace every tree in the forest. And when it was discovered, it became the world's most massive creature ever known.

That is the Armillaria solidipes. Most of its "bodies" lie beneath the ground, not showing up so we don't find it. Only a few stalks of brown mushrooms, also known as "honey mushrooms" sprouting from the ground, are the only visible part of Armillaria.

Armillaria fungus solidipes live on parasitic roots of old trees and absorb all the nutrients from the trunk until the tree wither and die.

Viewed from the outside, Armillaria is a network of fibrous structures linked together like root-like fungi. The roots of this creature have a solid black color, and can extend in a plot of land of tens of square kilometers.

The Armillaria model was found by scientists in Malheur National Forest for 8.9 km2. Another sample was discovered in the forest of the Upper Peninsula, Michigan covering a plot of 0.15km2.

In Michigan, a team of scientists happened to discover Armillaria while conducting a research project on the biological effects of low-frequency radio waves on wildlife. They tracked the trail of a part of its roots clinging to the trunk of the pine trees and discovered that these black roots branched out over a fairly wide area.

After taking Armillaria's DNA samples at different locations for testing, the results showed that all the DNA samples they had collected belonged to the same biological structure.

About a decade ago, the US Forest Department discovered another Armillaria "relative" when investigating the cause of the massive death of a large number of trees in the Malheur National Forest.

According to scientists, this creature is not only large in size but also has a very high age, estimated to be between 2,400 years and 8,500 years.

Armillaria developed by spreading from one host to another through a black filament root system, regardless of whether the host was at a great distance. These roots bind to the roots of the host plants, and suck up the nutrients until the host dies.

On average, Armillaria grows approximately 1m / 1 year. Thus, for centuries, it developed into a giant system over a very large area.

Armillaria mushrooms can be found in forests in North America, Europe and Asia. Therefore, in the future there may be a lot of huge Armillaria models found.

But now, scientists and researchers are still unable to find the reason why the Armillaria fungus can grow so big and have such a high age.