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A newly described fungus from Yunnan produces upright structures measuring up to 50 centimeters in total height. DNA and microscopic evidence support a new species, genus and family within the fungal order Xylariales. Its estimated lineage age overlaps the dinosaur extinction, but a connection between that event and its evolution remains hypothetical. Pale, fingerlike structures rising from tree roots in southwestern China have revealed an unexpected giant among fungi. Named Dianjunus rex, the newly described species produces fleshy reproductive structures reaching 50 centimeters in total height. The largest reported specimen weighed 2.2 kilograms, roughly 4.9 pounds. Its size was only the beginning of the surprise. Genetic comparisons and microscopic examinations placed the fungus on a distinct evolutionary branch, supporting a new genus and family. The findings appeared in Frontiers in Fungal Biology. The team included scientists from the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and collaborating institutions. Corresponding author Indunil C. Senanayake works at the institute’s Germplasm Bank of Wild Species.

Image: Song et. al ‘Frontiers in Fungal Biology,’ 2026 It’s a fungi-filled world and we are just living in it. There are roughly 150,000 to 157,000 known species of fungi, and now there is a new giant species to add to that tally.