• There ’s nothing newfangled about mushrooms . Morels ( the genus of edible mushrooms ) have been around since dinosaur time , evolving into over 177 mintage all over the world ( include Antarctica - more on that later on ) . The fungi have also been primarily champion by humans : " Oddly enough , most animal species are n’t particularly attracted to morel , " says Oregon State University researcher Nancy Weber . " A few slug and other things will eat them . But humans have probably been eating them for aboutas long as there have been humans . " More for us !
• It ’s a birdie ! It ’s a plane ! It ’s … a giant mushroom-shaped cloud ! A mushroom cloud in Oregon has claim the title of World ’s Largest Living Organism . " TheArmillaria ostoyae , popularly cognise as the dear mushroom-shaped cloud , started from a single spore too small to see without a microscope . It has been spreading its disastrous shoestring filament , called rhizomorph , through the woods for an estimated 2,400 years , kill Tree as it get . It nowcovers 2,200 acres(880 hectare ) of the Malheur National Forest , in eastern Oregon . " But can it be stop ?
• Mushrooms are more than just a tasty treat , they can also service as thearchitectural basisfor a house as well as acompostable railway car .
• From the Department of Controversy , mental_flosshas been tireless in our reportage of refutable mushroom-shaped cloud - relate products , such as amushroom cloud stuff toy , and amushroom cloud postage stamp(really , what were they reckon ? ) .
• It ’s of import to know the difference between a portobello and , say , a Death Cap ( just ask Russian Czar Aleksandr I , Roman Emperor Claudius , Gallic King Charles V and Pope Clement VII - just four of several diachronic image who died after eat the awry eccentric of mushroom fungus ) . Before you go foraging , consider take aclassor reading up on some mushroom literature ( and even then … beware ! )
• " mushroom cloud are masterpiece of raw engineering , " and yet … some scientists still think with a niggling nip and rapier here and there ( peradventure a splash of botox ) , the gill mushroom-shaped cloud couldachieve beau ideal .
• It ’s a skirt ! It ’s a plane ! It ’s … expect , we ’ve done this one . Yeah , it ’s a mushroom cloud , but not the man ’s largest … . the universe ’s creepiest . Living in Antarctica , this " spunky " fungifeasts on the remainsof an early 20th hundred hut construct by polar IE who all die on their journey . Does the fungi have an alibi ?
• Not all mushrooms enjoy come out to devour our things , some care to stick well secret . Take the white truffle , for example . Though its ( inferior ) cousin-german , the Périgord , can be crop , the white truffle can only be found by setting discerning pigs to drift across the Italian Piemonte to root them out ( only to have them snatched away from the squealer and put , instead , on very expensive foods ) . " One of [ New York City cheff ] Daniel Boulud ’s favorite report involvesPuff Daddy , as he was bang at the time , pep up the chef to ' shave that b*tch ' onto his nutrient ; Boulud oblige ( as the bank note mount consequently ) .
• When a buffalo may not always be a buffalo : A cave mural in Spain may suggest " magical mushroom " usage in Europe as part of religious ritual up to 6000 years ago . Egyptians board that train not long afterwards , " The delicious flavor of mushrooms intrigued the pharaohs of Egypt so much that they decreed mushroom werefood for royaltyand that no commoner could ever touch them . " In various other civilization , admit Russia , China , Greece , Mexico and Latin America , " Many believed that mushrooms had properties that could get super - human strength , help in find fall back objective and moderate the soul to the realm of the graven image . "
• Once again , if it ’s a intellectual nourishment , there is afestivalfor it . Has anyone been to Kennett Square , Pennsylvania , mushroom Das Kapital of the world ?
• As this is go to press , it seemsTimehas just written another article about this fabeled fungus kingdom and how , according to them , " it becameas coarse as apple Proto-Indo European . " ( I like that , Time . Well played ) .
• Mushroom buff ? Mushroom haters ? Do white-hot mushroom really make things taste that much better ? I will put mushroom on anything - pizza pie , burgers , testicle , wrapping , Indian food , spaghetti , as a sandwich , as a side - anything !
Food photos claim byJohanna Beyenbach . You might recall that name from our post about hercolorful diet .
