China's Monster Mushroom Weighing 33 Pounds Could be a World Record Breaker

A huge mushroom that is almost the size of a tire weighing 33 pounds has been unearthed by locals from the township of Puxiong in China's Yunnan province.

The giant mushroom that stretches across 36 inches in diameter may be one of the largest ever mushroom discovered. The finder proudly put the large mushroom on display, triggering great excitement among the locals eager to take photographs of the unusual mushroom.

It is not clear whether this giant fungus is a mushroom or whether it is edible. But it has gained a lot of attention since its discovery as the large clump of mushroom has 100 caps attached at the base of the stem.

"I guess this mushroom can be entered into the Guinness World Records," said one woman as she photographed the ball of grey capped mushrooms.

The world's largest edible mushroom producing country is China and it  produces about half of all cultivated mushrooms. From the Yunan forests, nearly thousands of tons of mushrooms are harvested every year. Nearly 600 species of edible shrooms are grown in the province out of the almost 2,000 varieties grown worldwide. The seasonal favorites of the locals include   "the king of mushrooms" or termite mushrooms (which grow inside termite nests), white jelly mushrooms, greenhead mushrooms, ganbajun mushrooms and a host of others found only in Yunnan, reports CNN Travel.

According to China's Ministry of Commerce, a mushroom farmer's average salary is only RMB 3,269 per year (US$500).

Last year, a Canadian, Christian Therrien, 62, along with his son Sebastien, 34, stumbled upon an inedible giant puffball mushroom that weighed 57.4 pounds.

Mushrooms can be dangerous and one has to be very cautious before consuming one. Mushrooms were the cause of the 'Yunnan Sudden Death Syndrome'. People suffered cardiac arrest and it mostly occurred during the midsummer rainy season from June-August. These mushrooms caused the death of 400 people in the past three decades, before scientists found the cause.