Dang, This Missourian Just Found a Ginormous Mushroom
I've seen a lot of mushrooms and even some big ones, but never one as ginormous as a Missourian just found in the woods.
The Missouri Department of Conservation just shared this pic of Jackson Sifford who found this pale chicken of the woods mushroom. It is HUGE.
The Missouri Department of Conservation also shared some helpful facts about what exactly a pale chicken of the woods mushroom is. The scientific name is Laetiporus cincinnatus. I'm not even gonna begin to pretend I knew that on my own. The word-for-word definition by them is the following:
Layered, rosette or fan-shaped, fleshy; orange to pinkish orange on top; white below. Grows in overlapping clusters or rosettes on dead or dying deciduous trees, often at the base of trees, or on stumps, buried roots, or living trees. May–November.
All I know is that is one ginormous mushroom. Congrats to Jackson on this very impressive fungal find.