Honey Fungus

A single honey fungus in Oregon's Blue Mountains spans 2,385 acres - nearly 4 square miles - making it potentially the largest living organism on Earth. The fungus is estimated at 2,400-8,650 years old, spreading through soil as rhizomorphs (root-like structures) at about 3 feet per year. What looks like individual mushrooms across a mountainside is actually one genetic individual connected underground.

Honey fungus is a tree pathogen, not a mutualist. It kills trees by invading their roots, then spreads to neighboring trees through root contact and rhizomorph exploration. The 'humongous fungus' in Oregon has killed countless trees over millennia, creating forest openings that change vegetation patterns across the landscape. This is network parasitism rather than network mutualism.

The fungus's scale creates an interesting detection problem. Forest managers didn't realize they were dealing with a single organism until genetic testing in the 1990s. What appeared to be a fungal disease moving through the forest was actually a single ancient network predating European settlement. The solution to a 'spreading problem' was revealed to be management of a single entity.

The business insight is that apparent market-wide problems may be single-source issues. When multiple companies face similar challenges, the cause might be a single competitor, supplier, or regulatory pressure that appears distributed but is actually connected. Honey fungus teaches that network effects work for predators too - understanding the network's true extent changes the management response.