The Secrets of the 'Humongous Fungus'

Twenty-five years ago, James Anderson discovered a fungus that expanded the possibilities of life on Earth.

It was a single fungus of the genus Armillaria, weighing an estimated 22,000 pounds and spread over a remarkable 15 hectares. The organism had been growing for around 1,500 years, more than a millennium before the land under which it grew even became the state of Michigan. When Anderson and his collaborators wrote it up, they suggested it was “among the largest and oldest living organisms” in the world.