These People Found Mushrooms So Incredible, They Had to Take It to the Internet

Home Biology These People Found Mushrooms So Incredible, They Had to Take It to the Internet

Biology

By Monica Gray - November 18, 2022

Hiking in the forest brings us happiness. It’s good for our mental and physical health, and it’s beneficial all around to escape the city and turn off our electronics. But the forest is full of magical treats, and that includes mushrooms. These people on the internet found mushrooms that’ll blow your mind. These mushrooms are colorful, and giant, and look like something out of a Lord of the Rings movie. Even though we eat mushrooms in a variety of ways, it’s best not to let these mushrooms within ten feet of your mouth. Some of them are creepy, while others look quite magical. While some mushrooms are edible, others are extremely poisonous and may have detrimental effects on your health. Interestingly enough, mushrooms feed on dead and decaying material. They sometimes even have a network of neurons underneath the surface of the soil. This network is closely related to the neurons of the human brain.

Disclaimer: Only experienced foragers and professionals should eat wild mushrooms. If you are not sure about a mushroom, please don’t eat it. It could have deadly consequences.

These People Found Mushrooms So Incredible, They Had to Take It to the Internet — Shutterstock

There are over 14,000 species of mushrooms, and you’ll find all sorts of mushrooms all year long. This is especially true after heavy rains when the soil is damp and fertile. Mushrooms love moist and humid conditions! You won’t only find these mushrooms in the dirt. Since the mushroom is a spore-bearing fruit of a fungus body, you’ll find them on its food source or above ground. Next time you’re out walking around the forest, try and see how many different types of mushrooms you can find.

Rainbow Fungus

Whoever thought that the fungus among us could look like a rainbow? It’s well-known that mold is multi-colored. This is what we imagine the smurf’s to live in. These are quite the magical fungi. It looks like the people who found these mushrooms collected every single color out there, almost like “collect them all” Pokemon style. When these people found mushrooms so colorful, there was no way they weren’t going to let the rest of the world take a look. The earth is fascinating, just look at how many colors of mushrooms are out there. Most of us are used to the common white and brown mushrooms we sprinkled onto our pasta or eat in a stir fry. Things just got a lot more interesting (via Bored Panda).

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Fall Colors

This Reddit user captioned their magical find as “The Gift Of Autumn,” and it couldn’t be any more true. When these people found mushrooms with fall colors, they collected them and made a huge pile we’d love to fall into (if it didn’t crush them all). Luckily, they showed their findings to the world of the internet. These mushrooms almost look painted, as if someone took the time to use every warm fall color and paint a white mushroom. Nature is seriously incredible, and when you start looking at what you can find, you’ll realize just how many mushrooms are out there (via Bored Panda).

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Chicken Mushroom

This mushroom is called “Chicken of the Woods.” And these mushrooms are truly fascinating. The fruiting bodies have a chewy texture and pleasant flavor that is similar to chicken when they are thoroughly cooked and eaten. The photo was captioned, “Found Some Chicken,” since the mushrooms climbing the tree resembles a basket of fried chicken. Now we’re hungry! These mushrooms are edible and considered a delicacy around the world. Not only that, but they’re beautiful to look at. Their bright orange color stands out against the green fauna of the forest and is a stark contrast to the surrounding nature (via Bored Panda).

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Little Red Riding Hood

This looks like the cover for “Little Red Riding Hood,” as if she frolicked into the forest and foraged tons of mushrooms in her little basket. The Reddit user captioned it with, “Finally Decided To Break In One Of My Foraging Baskets I Made Over The Winter,” and they couldn’t be more right. When these people found mushrooms in their backyard, they decided to collect them. The indigo-colored ones catch our attention the most. It’s fascinating that some mushrooms come in such vivid, bright colors. It makes us wonder what else is out there (via Bored Panda).

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New Friend

At first glance, this mushroom looked like a small dog. Seriously, look at the size of that thing! The Reddit user captioned their photo, “Not as impressive as France, but I’m super happy with yesterday’s 5 Lb to find from California!” We’re looking at a five-pound mushroom! We can’t believe people found mushrooms weighing more than a pound. It turns out that some mushrooms out there weigh as much as three blue whales (via Bored Panda).

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Dinner’s Ready

This guy found “Massive Bolete,” which is an edible mushroom. There are many ways to tell what’s an edible bolete mushroom, and according to The Survival Gardner, the edible ones lack gills and have dense flesh. We’re not recommending you go out and scavenge for edible bolete mushrooms, but at least you have a little bit of an idea about what they look like. It looks like this guy has his dinner ready for the evening, and by the looks of his smile, he couldn’t be happier about it (via Bored Panda).

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Flying High

Everyone knows about psilocybin mushrooms, which are the mushrooms that get you high and make you hallucinate. It’s now legal in several states in the USA. The Reddit user who posed this picture said, “High On Mushrooms. Thought You’d Enjoy It,” since their dog is surfing on a giant mushroom high in the forest. Sometimes, people find mushrooms oddly placed on a tree. We love that their dog was light enough to stand on it, although one wrong move and the dog would plop back down to the forest ground (via Bored Panda).

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Found The Lion’s Mane

Why travel to Africa to see a lion’s mane, when you can see one in your backyard? Even though it’s not the same thing, we can see the resemblance. This Reddit user posted this picture when they found mushrooms in their parent’s backyard. They said, “Lions Mane Found On My Parent’s Property. Any Reason Not To Eat It?” Luckily for them, you can eat lion’s mane mushrooms! There are several benefits to eating lion’s mane, and that includes protecting against dementia, relieving anxiety, and protecting against ulcers (via Bored Panda).

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Hunting With Family

Hunting with your relatives looks different to everyone. Some people hunt for animals, while others hunt for mushrooms. Just like hunting successfully for animals, there’s a technique to hunting for mushrooms. This person’s Reddit caption said, “Took My 77-Year-Old Neighbor Chanterelle Hunting. It Was The First Time In 4years He Could Go, Due To Back And Neck Surgeries. He Told Us Where To Park, We Went Out And Picked For Him, And Found 17lbs. He Was So Happy To Get Back Out There With Some Help!” Just look at that huge bowl of mushrooms! This photo got so much popularity, that Hugh Cookson commented saying, “Oh wow, cook those bad boys up with bacon and broad beans, serve with Pumpernickel bread and a cheese sauce. Food of the Gods !!! Well done both of you.” We couldn’t agree more (via Bored Panda).

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Proud Wife

This woman looks like the proud wife of her husband and child. Look at the way she holds that mushroom! Mushrooms grow on all sorts of surfaces. This couple happened to find one on the side of a steep road. Their caption said, “My wife stopped us on a steep, bumpy road to snag this one.” She certainly snagged a good one! It’s huge and almost as big as her head. This must’ve been such a fun, unexpected thing to see while on a road trip. We’re glad she saw it, though, and stopped her husband because now we get to see it too! This is one they’ll need to display on their fireplace mantel for as long as they can (via Bored Panda).

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Pinecone Fellas

This pinecone has tons of friends, in the form of mushrooms. This mushroom is called “Baeospora myosura,” (commonly referred to as conifer-cone baeospora) and is found growing on the surfaces of plant material (like this pine cone, here) and manure. It’s a pretty strange place to grow, but we appreciate its beauty! They captioned their photo, “found these pinecone fellas while on a walk!” This person found mushrooms in such a unique spot, and we’re thankful they shared it with the internet. What a magical find that must’ve been while on a forest adventure. These cute little guys are growing at such wonderful angles that we can’t help but fall in love with this pinecone! We hope they took this home and set it on their bedside table (via Bored Panda).

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Hit The Jackpot

This guy who found mushrooms hit the jackpot! Just look at the size of that thing. Apparently, “In Zambia, one mushroom feeds a family for days. This Is Termitomyces Titanicus. Also Found In West Africa, The Largest Edible Fungus In The World.” This mushroom lives in symbiosis with termites, which is why it can grow to this giant size. The most fascinating part, though, is that it’s completely edible. Mother Nature is seriously amazing. This mushroom in particular is native to West Africa and Zambia. Not only is this mushroom known for being edible, but it’s seriously delicious (via Bored Panda).

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Total Frenzy

This is a fungi frenzy if we’ve ever seen one. Just look at all those mushrooms! These people found mushrooms on the forest floor after heavy rains in Colorado. Based on the photo’s caption, which read “Unrelenting Rain In Colorado- Total Frenzy On The Forest Floor. I Can’t Stop Smiling,” it sounds like they’re more than ecstatic with their forest finds. We wonder if these mushrooms are edible, or if they just plan on having them lying around. Either way, it’s certainly a fungi spectacle (via Bored Panda).

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Matching Colors

This mushroom matches this guy’s jacket a bit too perfectly. They’re wearing the same vibrant orange. Who ever thought you could match a mushroom? Based on this list, people found mushrooms in all sorts of colors, so it’s not surprising. Mushrooms come in all different sizes and colors to attract different spore dispersers. According to the poster, the “camouflage helped me sneak up on it.” The mushroom didn’t know what was coming. It’s entirely possible he thought the person was just another mushroom (via Bored Panda).

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What Is This?

Based on this person’s face, he looks confused. It’s almost like he’s saying, “what is this?” Perhaps he’s never seen a mushroom this size. The photo is captioned “Mt Hood, October 11th.” This mushroom was hiding around in Mount Hood, waiting for this guy to pick him up. They could become best friends. This mushroom looks like the perfect adventure partner (via Bored Panda).

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Buckets Of Shrooms

There’s nothing better than buckets upon buckets of shrooms! These people found mushrooms in British Colombia and went on a collection expedition. Just look at how many they found! Their photo was captioned, “Fire Morels haul from this weekend and a few Blondes, British Columbia.” With this many mushrooms, you could make tons of soups, curries, pasta dishes, sandwiches, and more. The creativity is endless with this many mushrooms (via Bored Panda).

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Swirly Shrooms

This is one of the most beautiful mushrooms we’ve ever seen. Look at those swirls! This is an Indigo Milk Cap, and the person who discovered it screamed at its beauty. We’d scream too if we held something as beautiful as this mushroom. It looks like someone dumped paint onto it and let it swirl around and dry. Amazingly, despite the bright colors, this mushroom is also edible! Could you imagine an entire forest with only these mushrooms? It’d be a magical fairytale land (via Bored Panda).

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Super-Sized Chicken of the Woods

Look at those chicken of the woods mushrooms! It looks like people found mushrooms bigger than their heads, just like this guy. According to the photo, it was the biggest mushroom they’d ever seen in their life. Ours too. It’s even bigger than their dog, who’s sulking in the back, probably afraid of the size of the mushrooms. If every mushroom was as big as this one, we’d have a problem (via Bored Panda).

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Mystery Mushrooms

These people found mushrooms they couldn’t identify. According to the photo, “I found these tiny guys in some mulch this morning. Google Lens is not helping me identify.” Unfortunately, there are no mycologists on staff here at Science Sensei. There are hundreds of different species of mushrooms this could be. At least we now know these mushrooms’ size relative to a dime, which they strategically placed in the photograph. Either way, it makes a great picture and we’re happy to spend time looking at it on the internet (via Bored Panda).

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Smurf Mushrooms

These mushrooms belong to the Smurfs. There’s no question about it. Their color and size are incredibly stunning, and magical fairy creatures certainly run around these mushrooms. The person who found these thrillingly blue mushrooms found them in their backyard! We wonder where they’re living if this is what they find only steps from their back door. They might look psychedelic, but they’re not, according to experts. Though some mind-bending mushrooms turn blue after being harvested, not all blue mushrooms are transportive. E. hochstetteri doesn’t contain the consciousness-altering chemical psilocybin.(via Bored Panda).

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Oregon Coast

The Oregon Coast is stunning, and this mushroom proves just that. This person found mushrooms on the coast. According to the photo, this is “a massive Boletus Edulis (King Bolete) on the Oregon Coast.” Seriously, that’s the size of a small dog. We’re not surprised they managed to pick this out of the field, it sticks out from the weeds like a sore thumb. What a spectacular find (via Bored Panda).

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Mini Mushrooms

These are the cutest mushrooms on this list. These people managed to find the tiniest mushrooms out there. It’s fascinating to see the comparison in mushroom size. Some of them are giant, and some of them are microscopic. Mushrooms vary in size, just like people. This photo was captioned, “my daughter loves mushroom hunting and found these tiny ones on an acorn cap.” They’re the perfect size for someone’s daughter to find (via Bored Panda).

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Undercover Mushroom

This mushroom is undercover, and they’re heroically lifting up the earth. Just look at that strength! Who thought a mushroom could lift the earth like that? We certainly didn’t. We know that mushrooms are responsible for life on earth, and this photo makes it that much more believable. Incredibly, these people managed to capture this mushroom underneath the earth like this. If they hadn’t taken a picture of it, we never would’ve seen something as spectacular as this (via Bored Panda).

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Giant Bolete

This photo is the caption “absolute Bolete unit”, and we can see why. This Bolete mushroom is no joke, and the woman is holding the mushroom like a proud mother showing off her child. She should show it off, just look at the size of that thing! We wonder where people manage to find mushrooms this size. They must be hiding deep in the forest, and only the lucky ones can find them. These mushrooms grow in North America and Europe, mainly in wooded areas. There are more than 200 species of the bolete mushroom alone, and none of them are known to be deadly to humans (via Bored Panda).

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Mother Nature

Mother Nature is fascinating. She’s able to create life out of death and turn something once dead into a miracle of life. That’s exactly what happened to this fox skull when a Lactarius Rubidius started growing out through the eyes of the skull. It’s extremely beautiful and is just another reason why Mother Nature is so clever. Even if humans end up polluting places beyond recognition, we can count on mushrooms to help regrow the environment (via Bored Panda).

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Spectacular Mushroom

These Lion Manes mushrooms resemble a chandelier or something you would find sitting on your dining room table. It’s as if nature has its decorations, in the form of mushrooms. Lion’s Mane is also referred to as bearded tooth and hedgehog, and we can see why. The more people on the internet show us their favorite photos of these mushrooms, the more in awe we become. Someone was on a walk when they discovered these mushrooms nestled on the side of a tree (via Bored Panda).

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Mushroom Ear

Seriously, we have something to learn from these mushrooms. They can so easily recreate human body parts, that it’s a bit freaky. Though scientists do say humans are more closely related to mushrooms than plants, it comes as no surprise that our body parts eerily resemble some mushrooms. This photo is captioned, “Jelly Ear, my first time finding one!” We haven’t been lucky enough to find one, so we appreciate that this person shared it on the internet (via Bored Panda).

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Big Puffball

This puffball mushroom looks like something out of Pokemon. Seriously, how is this real? We half expect it to grow tiny arms and legs and start running around. This person’s uncle found one of the strangest mushrooms on this list, and we can only help but be in awe. Not one of these mushrooms is the same as the next one. The puffball mushrooms are commonly found in meadows and fields, so if your adventure happens to take you to one of these landscapes, then keep an eye out for the puffballs (via Bored Panda).

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Albert Einstein

This mushroom looks like Albert Einstein’s hair. We’re not sure if it’s safe and edible, but the person captioning the photo is convinced it’s safe and delicious. We wouldn’t want to be the first ones to try it out, though. Either way, it’s strange to look at and certainly captures our attention. We’d love to see more of these types of mushrooms since they’re certainly strange (via Bored Panda).

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Skull Mushroom

Is it just us, or does this mushroom resemble a giant skull? This person found one of the biggest mushrooms we’ve ever seen. They captioned the photo and said, “my giant puffball find from last autumn. As it was so ridiculously huge, I decided to take some fun pics with it.” We’d love to see the rest of these photos since this one looks pretty great. We wonder how long one of these giant mushrooms survives (via Bored Panda).

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Expansive Chicken Of The Woods

We’re seeing another person stumble upon chicken of the woods mushrooms. This seems to be the most popular type of mushroom out there, and we can’t help but stare in awe. These people are lucky to come across these giant mushrooms on their hikes in the woods. It’s fascinating that they expand across the trunk of a tree. It looks like that’s where they feel the most at home. Even if this person found these mushrooms on one of the most treacherous hikes in the world, it would still be beautiful (via Bored Panda).

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Shoehorn Oyster

It looks like seashells in the ocean and mushrooms are also closely related. This person happened to stumble across the Shoehorn Oyster while hiking in the woods. If we didn’t know this was a mushroom, we’d think it was a seashell! A giant portion of the earth was once covered in water, after all, so it makes sense to see mushrooms that look like something from the sea. These aren’t the only mushrooms that look like seashells, there are tons of other mushrooms out there that closely resemble the magic we can find beneath the sea (via Bored Panda).

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Huge Reishi

This one takes the cake for the biggest mushroom on this list. This is a giant Reishi mushroom that’s edible. There are tons of health benefits that come with eating Reishi mushrooms, and that includes boosting the immune system, anti-cancer properties, fighting fatigue and depression, and helping the heart. These mushrooms are native to East Asia and are used widely in Asian traditional medicine (via Bored Panda).

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Happy Hikers

This person’s smile says it all. She found a tree full of chicken of the woods mushrooms and decided to collect them all. The landscape looks incredible, fresh, and inviting, and is a place we’d want to spend time in. We imagine this woman found many different types of mushrooms since it looks like an ideal environment for mushroom collecting. Let’s hope she sautees those mushrooms and makes something delicious (via Bored Panda).

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Puffball Magic

We’re seeing another incredible puffball mushroom. This person found this huge puffball on the side of the road, and couldn’t help but get a picture of it. Look at the size of that thing! You can also eat puffball mushrooms, so it looks like this guy has dinner sorted for the next week or two. As long as the puffballs are white inside, they’re edible for humans to consume. But if you eat these mushrooms at the wrong stage in their growth, they could be deadly (via Bored Panda).

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Christmas Tree

This mushroom looks like a Christmas tree decoration. Someone stumbled across this fascinating mushroom while walking through the forest in the fall. If this is the mushroom we think it is, it’s somehow edible, poisonous, and hallucinatory at the same time. That doesn’t sound too pleasant, but it’s nice to look at. It’s also the mushroom from Alice in Wonderland, so it makes it that much more special to stumble upon. If you’ve seen the movie, you’ll know that Alice has a crazy experience after consuming one of these mushrooms, so maybe it’s better we don’t eat it (via Bored Panda).

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Desert Mushrooms

These mushrooms are hanging out in the desert of Wadi Rum in Jordan. The desert is also known as the Valley of the Moon. The name alone sounds beautiful enough to make anyone want to visit. That’s not something you’d expect to find in such desolate conditions. The desert itself is home to many different sites. If you look closely, you’ll find special sites like this one, mushrooms hidden within the sands of the desert (via Bored Panda).

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Rave Mushrooms

These mushrooms look like they belong in a rave. They look like they have twinkling LED lights glued onto them and are about to break out into a strobe light. This person captioned the photo, “I saw God today and she’s a mushroom.” It’s true! These mushrooms also look like ones that have been fossilized and preserved for hundreds of years. We can learn a lot about the history of the planet by studying fossilized animals, flora, and fauna (via Bored Panda).

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Excited Trekkers

Just look at the smiles on their faces! They couldn’t be happier to find Chicken of the Woods mushrooms. They’re either excited at their discovery or excited about the fact that they have dinner for the next few days. What a special find! Hopefully, they collected those mushrooms and brought them back home. It was the first time they went mushroom hunting and that’s what they found (via Bored Panda).

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Alice In Wonderland

This person stumbled upon Alice in Wonderland. In the movie, Alice eats a mushroom that changes her physical state. They captioned the photo, “another shot from fairy forest!” It’s a fairy forest. There’s nothing like magical mushrooms that grow in the wild, especially ones featured in a famous movie. It’s almost like stumbling upon a famous actor or actress in the streets of a big city and catching them when you least expect it (via Bored Panda).

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