Spongiforma squarepantsii
Discoverer Dennis Desjardin explains why this new mushroom is named sponge: "It's just like a sponge with these big hollow holes."
He goes on. "When it's wet and moist and fresh, you can wring water out of it and it will spring back to its original size. Most mushrooms don't do that." True. And it's definitely not a sponge, right? Okay, I trust you guys.
It's estimated that only 5% of the fungi species on the planet have even been named. So we have a long way to go and a lot of cartoon/corporate sponsorship to shill. But then, Mr. Desjardin and his mushroom crew wouldn't know anything about that, would they?
I did a little digging, and I found this picture of Desjardin (purple) in 1996 at a "corporate gala" in Sioux Falls.
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