When an apple grows a mushroom, scientists come calling

What happens when a fungus sprouts from an apple? For one woman in east China's Zhejiang Province, the curious discovery marked the beginning of an unexpected scientific journey.

In July 2024, Deng Lixing discovered a small white mushroom sprouting from a rotting apple on her windowsill. After she posted a photo online, the unusual apple quickly went viral and was nicknamed the "Apple Fungus King."

The mushroom also caught the attention of a researcher at the Kunming Institute of Botany under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Deng donated the apple, sending it more than 2,000 kilometers to Kunming, in southwest China's Yunnan for research.

Scientists identified the mushroom as Schizophyllum commune, also known as the splitgill mushroom – an edible fungus usually found on decaying wood. They isolated its strain and crossed it with another strain that had traveled into space aboard China's Shenzhou-12 spacecraft.

After eight generations of cultivation, the team produced a new variety that is crisp, rich in flavor, low in spores and ready to harvest in just 15 to 20 days. It has now made the leap from a windowsill curiosity to the dinner table.

The eighth-generation "Apple Fungus King" is now looking for an official name. What would you call it?