Nature Knows: Healthy

The World’s Largest Edible Mushroom Lives in Symbiosis with Termites and That’s Why It Grows So Huge

Most edible mushrooms are relatively small, but in West Africa as well as Zambia, there’s one particularly enormous species that outgrows all the rest of them.

Termitomyces titanicus. A rather fitting name for such a huge species. Image credit: Danny Newman
In Zambia, where mushroom-gathering is an important part of life, the Termitomyces titanicus is especially held in high regard.

While the largest fungus (and organism) in the world is of the genus Armillaria and is currently consuming Oregon on 1,000 hectares, Termitomyces titanicus is the world’s largest edible mushroom, with a cap that can measure a little more than three feet (one meter) across.

Interestingly, this giant mushroom species was unknown to Western science prior to 1980, despite its size and the fact it was a common item in native markets.

This family living in Zambia purchased this giant specimen on the road to Lusaka, the capital city. Image credit: Words from the Wild
The name Termitomyces refers to how the mushroom grows inside a termite hill. The mushrooms in this genus have a symbiotic relationship with termites and grow on their fecal matter, breaking down plant material as food for them.

Decayed mushroom tissue is another food source for the termites. In turn, the fungi associated with termites receive a steady supply of plant material, in a location with fine-tuned temperature and moisture content optimal for growth.

The mushrooms are connected to the heart of a colony of fungal breeding termites. Image credit: Aanen and de Beer
But why does the mushroom grow so big? Well for one, it acquires a huge amount of resources from its insect mutualist, as termite colonies can reach densities in the millions, with countless individuals foraging for organic material to feed them. But it’s size is not only due the large amounts of energy it obtains: this horizontally transferred fungus must spread enough spores to be found by suitable termite species.

In low producing savanna ecosystems, the distribution of termite mound may be quite patchy. So, to ensure that it gets a good chance at finding a suitable substrate, the fungus has evolved one of, if not the, largest mushrooms on the planet. The larger the mushroom, the more spores it produces, making it easier for initial termite foragers to actually find them.

A Termitomyces titanicus found in a village outside Upemba National Park. Image credit: Blimeo
Titanicus grows in the winter during the rains, which is prime mushroom season in its habitat. It has a meaty texture and a savory, smoky taste which is considered to be particularly delicious.

And a single cap can provide a full meal for an entire family…
Source

No comments

, by Back to Nature

Food

Pennsylvania Dairy Farmer Decides to Bottle His Own Milk Rather than Dump It. Sells Out in Hours.

The American spirit lives on at a 300-year-old, cream-line dairy farm, where a farmer is working around the clock to bottle his own milk after his processor told him to dump it. Locals are lining up to support him.

When Ben Brown’s dairy processor told him they could no longer buy his milk, he got to work bottling it himself.

Brown’s Whoa Nellie Dairy farm has been providing high-quality, cream-line milk since the 1700s.

He sells some of it at his on-site farm store, but a large portion of it used to be sold to a dairy processor who pasteurized and bottled it for local restaurants and markets.

When he realized he would have to dump hundreds of gallons of milk each week until his 70 milking cows dried up, he couldn’t bear it.

So he got to work, literally around the clock, pasteurizing it in small batches in his 30-gallon vat and bottling it up.

He posted on Facebook that they’d open up the farm store for additional hours to sell the milk directly to consumers, and the response was overwhelming:

The line to get in the store was at least 20 customers deep for several hours, the local news reported.

“I know their uncle, Larry Basinger, and we want to help the Brown family through this,” one customer said. “We’re going to buy 10 gallons. I have orders from our whole family.”

They sold out within hours and have sold out almost every day since. On days they don’t sell out, they donate their fresh, non-homogenized milk to local charities.

“I hate waste, and I don’t want to dump milk. People can use it, and I still have to pay my bills,” Brown said.

Brown and his wife Mary Beth purchased the farm four years ago from Ben’s parents. He admitted to a local newspaper that his family has “barely been scraping by” in recent years, and that at first, he was afraid the lockdown would be the end of them.

“I don’t want us to go under. This farm has been in the Brown family since the 1700s,” he said.

Two weeks ago, the farm was able to purchase a second 45-gallon pasteurization vat, so Brown won’t have to stay up all night processing it anymore.

Source