California is being invaded by world's deadliest mushroom, study finds
Rhiannon Ingle
Featured Image Credit: blickwinkel/Ionescu Bogdan Cristian/Alamy Stock Photo/
Once home to gnarly surfers, sandy beaches and celebrities-galore - an unlikely guest is now also spreading across the coastal state of California.
A study has found that the western American state is being invaded by the world's most deadly mushroom.
Stretching across some 900-miles, researchers have discovered ground-breaking information to explain the spread.
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The killer fungus in question is aptly named the 'death cap' mushroom or Amanita phalloides - if you're feeling fancy.
Deadly poisonous, the death cap makes up for a staggering 90 per cent of global deaths from mushrooms worldwide, estimates suggest.
While the dodgy shroom is said to only kill a handful of humans a year, many people and animals alike fall sick after accidentally ingesting it due to its similarities in appearance to the non-poisonous white Caesar.
People who have eaten the mushroom have reported severe issues with their liver and kidneys which, in some extreme cases, can lead to liver failure and death.
Other symptoms include nausea, seizures, stomach cramps, vomiting and diarrhoea.
Measuring at just seven-inches tall - it's pretty scary just how big an effect a tiny little vegetable can have on a person.
A recent study conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison attempted to find out why the deadly mushroom is able to spread so viciously across California.
One reason was explained by a newly-discovered phenomenon.
In the study titled: "Invasive Californian death caps develop mushrooms unisexually and bisexually", scientists reported that the mushroom has been able to reproduce so quickly because it is effectively cloning itself.
Yep - you heard that right.
Like something right out of the The Last of Us with a totally different, but all-the-while still deadly fungus.
While most wild mushrooms tend to reproduce bisexually, scientists found that the Californian species of the death cap mushroom functions in an entirely different way.
Instead of patiently waiting for a mate, the death cap fertilises itself, or 'sporulates' - reproducing completely independently.
Scientists reported that the process was incredibly rare to be observed in the wild and is rarely seen outside of the laboratory.
The study, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, wrote: "The diverse reproductive strategies of invasive death caps are likely facilitating its rapid spread, revealing a profound similarity between plant, animal and fungal invasions."
Unlike other mushrooms, the study also explains that the death cap is 'both unisexual and bisexual'.
Due to this, the death cap has now revealed 'a previously unsuspected reproductive flexibility' in the mushrooms' natural production.
Researchers also suggested that the increase in reproduction is so the plant can gain a foothold in a new environment.
While the study accounts for the speed of the death cap invasion of California, researchers are yet to know what exactly caused this to happen in the first place.