Honey mushrooms in Oregon form a massive underground network that holds the record as the largest living organism on Earth.

A closer look

Honey mushrooms in Oregon form a massive underground network that holds the record as the largest living organism on Earth. This single, genetically identical fungus covers over twenty-two hundred acres, weighs hundreds of tons, and is estimated to be anywhere from twenty-four hundred to eight thousand years old. It mostly remains hidden beneath the soil, quietly absorbing nutrients, aggressively killing trees, and occasionally popping up mundane-looking mushrooms on the surface. We spend billions of dollars searching the cosmos for massive alien lifeforms, completely ignoring the fact that a humongous, immortal fungal parasite is silently devouring a national forest right beneath our boots while we hike around oblivious to its terrifying scale