Giant cep mushroom found in Swedish woods

The bumper fungus, known under its Swedish name of Karl Johan, was found by the Bolmehage family while out searching the woods for tasty morsels in the woods near their home.

“We made a hearty dinner,” said Maria Bolmehage to the Aftonbladet newspaper.

According to mycologist Klas Jaederfeldt the source of the mushroom’s gargantuan growth could lie in a hormone imbalance.

“I once saw a cep mushroom of this size. Then a rat had made a home for it family inside,” he said.

Mushroom picking is a popular past-time among Swedes in the autumn harvesting season. The Swedish law of public access enables the public at their leisure to pick mushrooms of which there are a reported 10,000 species represented across the country.