While it’s not unusual for mushrooms to fetch high prices, it’s exceptionally rare for common varieties to reach 5 figures. For a Buôn Ma Thuột man, this exception came in the form of a 220kg Lingzhi mushroom which has become an instant legend among local residents.
The enormous fungus,1.7 meters long, 1.2 meters wide and 0.6 meters tall, was found by a farmer last week at Farm 717 in Đắk Lắk Province’s Ea Kar District, reports Tuoi Tre.
Upon hearing the news of its discovery, 27-year-old Dao Duc Dai quickly snatched up the mushroom for $9,400 and hired a crew of 8 to dig it out and transport it to his home.
Not only has it become an attraction for locals who, on a daily basis, crowd around the house to take pictures and video, but after news of its existence spread on Facebook, bids have been rolling in.
While buyers from Hanoi and China have offered as much as $47,000, Dai has decided to hold on to his prized possession:
“I am waiting for the mushroom to be evaluated in terms of age and quality so that I can obtain a place in the Vietnam Record Books,” he told the newspaper.
Lingzhi mushrooms are a popular ingredient in traditional Asian medicines, used to treat everything from cancer to altitude sickness.
[Tuoi Tre]
