They're big but not quite the biggest

IT may not be the biggest fungus in the world but housewife Anthea Emeny has gathered two of the best from a roadside verge.

Mrs Emeny spotted the giant wild mushrooms at the side of the road between Holbrook and Freston while out cycling.

The keen cyclist was enjoying the warm sunshine when she came across the fungi. Although she confessed to not knowing too much about the species she knew a couple of winners when she saw them.

"I don't know a great deal about mushrooms but I had never seen wild mushrooms as big as that before", she said of her discovery. I decided to pick them and take them home to weigh."

The mushrooms, which 46-year-old Mrs Emeny of Chelmondiston describes as "dirty white" in colour, weighed in at 13oz and 1lb respectively and have not, as yet, been identified.

Mushrooms are fungi that reproduce via microscopic fruiting bodies forming spores and are regarded as the most unique growing vegetable.

Many ancient civilisations such as the ancient Egyptians, believed that mushrooms had special powers. According to some hieroglyphics, the delicious flavour of mushrooms intrigued the pharoahs of Egypt so much that they decreed that mushrooms were food for royalty and that no commoner could ever touch them. Fortunately for Mrs Emeny, no such laws exist in England!

At present, Mrs Emeny has no intention of eating the wild mushrooms until they can be identified and is therefore keen for someone with relevant knowledge to contact her.

"I wouldn't expect to only get one mushroom if I asked for a lb of mushrooms!", she joked.

Anyone who can enlighten Mrs Emeny is asked to contact her on 01473 780528.

n The largest living organism ever found is a fungus! The record-breaking specimen stretches over 2,200 acres in the Malheur National Forest in Eastern Oregon, USA.