Largest fungal basidiocarp

The largest basidiocarp (the fruiting body of a fungus where the spores develop) ever documented was found growing beneath a fallen tree on Hainan Island, China, in 2010. This colossal fungal growth, estimated to be around 20 years old, belonged to the inedible bracket fungus species Phellinus ellipsoideus (formerly Fomitiporia ellipsoidea) and measured 10.85 m (35 ft 7 in) long by 84 cm (2 ft 9 in) deep by 5 cm (2 in) thick. The estimated weight was 400–500 kg (880–1,100 lb) with a volume between 409,000 and 525,000 cm3 (24,960–32,000 cu in) between the thinnest and thickest parts. The discovery was described in the journal Fungal Biology in July 2011.

A bracket fungus is a fungus that grows on living trees or dead wood, forming one or more shelflike projections that are the spore-producing bodies.

Researchers discovered it by accident while studying wood-decaying fungi in the field, expressing their surprise at its immense size. It is also the largest basidiocarp of any fungus ever documented.

The bracket fungus had 49 pores per mm2, which equated to c. 452 million pores across the entire body.

It shattered the previous record of another bracket fungus growing on a dead elm tree in the UK's Kew Gardens, a specimen of Rigidioporus ulmarius that at its peak in 1995 measured 163 x 140 cm (5 ft 4 in x 4 ft 7 in), with a circumference of 480 cm (15 ft 9 in).

Another notable case was a specimen of Phellinus pachyphloeus, with dimensions of 151 x 142 x 57 cm (4 ft 11 in x 4 ft 7.9 in x 1 ft 10 in) and a circumference of 428 cm (14 ft), that was found growing on a mango tree near Barotiwala in Dehradun, Himachal Pradesh, India, on 13 September 2015. It was documented in the Journal of Threatened Taxa on 26 December 2017.