14 DAY TRIAL // A mushroom species that appears to be unique to the UK might just be the absolute cutest in the world. The fungi, shown in the photos accompanying this article, come complete with some seriously odd-looking offshoots.
The peculiar appendages resemble arms and legs, and make the mushrooms look like tiny humans exploring the forest floor. Or so says 49-year-old Jonathan Revett, who discovered the fungi back in 2000.
“They do look like little mushroom men,” the man explained in an interview, as cited by Mirror. “It's really strange how their shape makes them look like they have a head and arms,” he added.
The presence of these mushrooms has so far only been documented in Norfolk, Hampshire and the Welsh Borders. Although Jonathan Revet first came across them a decade and a half ago, it was just the other day that the species was labeled a new one.
This is because, to prove that the species was, in fact, a previously undocumented one, researchers had to collect DNA samples and test them looking for signs of genetic differences between these fungi and others similar to them.
Since it appears to only grow in the UK, the mushroom species is now known as Geastrum britannicum. Specialists warn that, as cute at they might look, these fungi are not edible.
