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fungus: Quick Facts

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News •

Scientists Discover “D-Rex,” a Giant Fungus Unlike Anything Seen Before • Oct. 22, 2026, 9:43 AM ET (SciTechDaily)

Facts

Also Known As Fungi • fungi

Photos and Videos

Two Amanita pantherina mushrooms with brown caps covered in white spots grow among moss and fallen leaves.
Morel
Maitake mushrooms
Close-up of a rye stalk with a dark ergot fungus growing on it, set against a blurred green field background.
Person in a plaid shirt holding two large white giant puffball mushrooms, Calvatia gigantea, against a background of green foliage.
Cluster of oyster cap mushrooms (Pleurotus ostreatus) growing without stems on decaying wood, showing layered, pale caps and gills against a rough, natural background.
Spongiforma squarepantsii
Club fungus
Three bright red cup fungus (Sarcoscypha coccinea) growing on damp, dark wood with green moss.
Earth tongue
Illustration of a red-capped mushroom wearing a red cape next to bold text reading 'Can fungi save the world?' with a smokestack in the background.
Small brown mushrooms growing at the base of a tree.
A tall white mushroom in the forest.
Know about the role of fungi in the forest ecosystem, where some digest plant matter, while others team with the plant (mycorrhizal) mutually
The role of fungi in forest decomposition
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Related Topics and References

Topics
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Key People

Ferdinand Cohn
Ferdinand Cohn
German botanist
Hooker, Sir William Jackson
Sir William Jackson Hooker
British botanist
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Bernard Ogilvie Dodge
American botanist
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Albert Francis Blakeslee
American botanist
default image
Heinrich Anton de Bary
German botanist
Elias Fries
Elias Fries
Swedish botanist
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J.C. Arthur
American botanist
Robert Almer Harper
Robert Almer Harper
American biologist
Farlow
William Gilson Farlow
American botanist
Dillenius, detail from an engraving by James Heath after an original portrait by an unknown artist
Johann Jakob Dillenius
German botanist

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