'King mushroom' is almost a meter tall in China

Villagers in southwestern China discovered a large cluster of rare mushrooms, with trees nearly a meter tall in the forest.

Giant mushroom in Dang Xung district.(Photo: Sina).

A village farmer in Dang Xung district, Yunnan province, went to the forest to look for mushrooms to discover a massive mushroom on October 22, according to SCMP.

"I am 81 years old and have never seen a big mushroom like this," the old man discovered the mushroom said.

The villagers called it "king mushroom". The mushroom cluster has 4 trees, weighs about 50kg, the highest tree is 94.3cm, the diameter is 40cm wide, making the villagers call it "elephant legs". Visitors poured in to take a photo and watch the mushroom make them fence around the mushroom, protecting it from vandalism.

Yang Zhuliang, expert of the Chinese Plant Science Institute in Kunming, said mushrooms are edible. The villagers hope it will be recognized by Guinness world record organization as the world's largest mushroom.