The colossal honey mushroom

When pondering the question of what could be the largest living organism in the world, I'm sure certain creatures will spring instantly to mind for obvious reasons, with the undisputed colossus of the seas, the whale, on the lips of many people who falsely believe they've stumbled across the correct answer. To arrive at such a conclusion is understandable, considering their impressive physical size and yet, they would be wrong. There does exist a definitive answer to this, which due to it's shock value, is always guaranteed to surprise many people. The organism in question is Armillaria Ostoyae, more commonly known as the Honey Mushroom.

The main part of its body is located beneath the earth, which consists of a tangled mass of ever extending tentacles called rhizomorphs which the species uses to invade neighbouring trees for the purpose of extracting nutrients. What's visible on the surface, however, belies it's gargantuan size, presenting itself as just another mushroom with no relevant difference to any other species you may have come across. It's subterranean section is known for rapid expanse over hundreds of miles as it continues it's never ending quest for food sources, a result of the fungus killing off anything in it's vicinity and having to  continually extend it's search over a wider radius.

One such impressive fungus was known as being the largest for quite some time, spawning across an area of approximately six hundred hectares in the state of Washington, until the discovery of a gargantuan colony residing in the Malheur National Forest in the Blue Mountains of Eastern Oregon, which dwarfed it in terms of size, measuring some eight hundred and ninety hectares across. It was identified after a large area of the forest's trees began to die off mysteriously, with the fungus identified as the eventual culprit. This number itself, hardly does the scale justice with a mentally visual comparison required to fully comprehend its enormity. For this purpose, it is equal to one thousand six hundred football fields which is an incredible area for one organism to occupy.

Although it's not fully understood how the species attains such a size, it's theorized that the dry weather conditions could be a decisive factor as these prove detrimental to the fungus, killing off many newly formed colonies and leaving the larger, older and more established ones to thrive without competition. There seems to be a delicious irony in the tale as the humble mushroom is always perceived as being diminutive in nature and yet one of it's many species proudly holds the title of the world's largest living organism!