Giant mushrooms were peppered throughout the planet before trees. These 'shrooms have since shrunk, but we still think they're pretty cool.
Favolaschia calocera
While few of us are actually mycologists–or the super niche-y group of people that study fungi–mushrooms have long captivated the attention of humans, be it through their use in religious ceremonies (some ancient rock art shows what appears to be hallucinogenic mushroom use in the Sahara desert around 9,000 years ago!), childhood books–or just as a catalyst to write some truly bizarre music.
While comparatively diminutive today, there was even a time in which it was mushrooms–and we’re talking massive, 24-feet-tall and three-feet-wide mushrooms–that covered the Earth, not trees. Fast forward 350 to 420 million years, and though these ‘shrooms have shrunk substantially, they still maintain their coolness. We provide you with some of our favorites below:
Cyathus striatus 
Hydnellum peckii 
Amethyst Deceiver 
Leratiomyces mushroom 
Panus fasciatus 
Amanita muscaria 
Mycena chlorophos 
Rhodotus palmatus 
Crepidotus 
Lepiota mushroom 
Porcelain Fungus 
Puffball Mushroom 
An exploding puffball mushroom 
Phallus indusiatus 
Marasmius haematocephalus 
Scutellinia scutellata 
Chorioactis 
Geastrum minimum 
Clathrus archeri 
Morchella esculenta 
Clathrus ruber 
Hairy mycena 
A snail perches atop a mushroom. 
Aseroe Rubra 
Schizophyllum commune 
Tiny golden mushrooms 
A "toothed" mushroom 
Coprinus comatus 
A frog in a cup mushroom 
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