1. Brain fungus Gyromitra esculenta
A mushroom similar to wood ear has the scientific name Guromitra esculenta and grows in many parts of Europe and North America. They often germinate in sandy soil under conifer trees in spring and early summer. The dark brown brain-like corrugated mushroom cap can reach 10 cm in height and 15 cm in width.
Although the toxins are quite dangerous if eaten raw, they are considered a popular food in Eastern Europe and North American Great Lakes residents. This type of mushroom is banned from circulation in Spain, mushroom packages sold must have clear instructions for use because sometimes when boiled, the poison cannot completely dissolve.
2. Hydnellum pecki bleeding fungus
Bleeding mushrooms are found in North American coniferous forests, and today they have invaded Europe, Korea, and Iran. Blood-red liquids escape through small holes in the mushroom cap as a special type of excretion of this mushroom.
3. Calvatia gigantea egg mushroom
With the size of a soccer ball, the egg mushroom holds the record for the largest mushroom in nature. Many individuals also reach a size of up to 1.5 meters and weigh 23 kg. The vast majority of them have a spherical shape when they reach adulthood and the mushroom stem cannot be seen because the giant cap is so heavy that no other type of stem can support it.
4. Cigar mushroom Chorioactis geaster
The name of this mushroom comes from its large cigar-like shape when young, and it only splits into a multi-pointed star to spread its spores during the breeding season. They are one of the rare mushrooms that only grow in central Texas and some places in Japan. Cigar mushrooms are discovered by the whistling sound they make each time they release spores into the environment.
5. Green mushroom Entoloma hochstetteri
Green mushrooms thrive in New Zealand and India. In the spore stage, the baby mushrooms are red and then gradually turn blue as they reach larger sizes. The color that this fungus possesses may be a signal that invites insects to spread spores like insect pollination of flowers. They are one of six types of mushrooms native to New Zealand and are inedible.
6. Mutinus caninus mushroom
The Mutinus mushroom has a rather sensitive appearance that makes many people blush. They are often found on wood chips and fallen leaves in the summer and autumn in Europe or Eastern North America. However, with this monstrous appearance, they are completely inedible, but according to local people, their spores are not toxic.
7. Lantern mushroom
In addition to the name lantern mushroom, the Amanita muscaria mushroom is also known as Fox Fire because the gentle red light they emit resembles the orange color of a fox’s tail. With the naked eye, people can also detect the light of this mushroom, so be sure not to eat it by mistake. The poison in the fox fire mushroom is enough to kill you in just a few minutes.
8. Clathrus ruber
It is a type of mushroom with a net shape like a round, hollow rattan ball. Their favorite food is rotting, decaying wood, living mainly in Europe. Initially, the spores are white sphere-shaped surrounded by a thin membrane containing calcium-rich slime that functions to protect the inside of the young mushroom. When exposed to wet conditions, it will spontaneously burst to develop into spherical structures up to 20 cm in size with bright red, orange and pink colors.
As beautiful as it is, this mushroom emits an unpleasant smell that attracts flies, mosquitoes and insects to spread the spores and also partly prevents them from being eaten by other species.
