▲ Photo courtesy Jeju Special Self-Governing Province

A Seogwipo man discovered a new species of mushroom (not pictured) on Aug. 30 while tending his grandfather’s grave. Mr. Oh took four samples of the mushroom on Sammaebong in Sehongdong and sent them for analysis to the Rural Development Administration. Microorganism experts there confirmed it was the Japanese giant puffball (Calvatia nipponica).

Oh, of Jungmundong, Seogwipo City, was performing “Beolcho,” a traditional ceremonial cleaning of ancestors’ graves. Despite the species being found across the country, it is the first time it has been found on Jeju.

The species is thought to be an aphrodisiac and was first discovered in Korea in 1989 at Mt, Gyeryongsan in Chungnam Province. Oh said: “I took four samples of this extremely big and fascinating mushroom... I have kept three [samples]; I have not yet decided what to do [with them].”

▲ Photo courtesy Jeju Special Self-Governing Province

The find comes in a bumper year for Jeju’s mushrooms with the island reported as a “Mushroom Kingdom” thanks to the rainy season and unusually wet summer.

July to September is the island’s mushroom season and thanks to the island’s climate and geology, the wide-ranging ecosystem hosts a wide variety of eye-catching mushrooms. The forests on the slopes of Mt. Hallasan in particular have seen extraordinary blooms of mushroom, with “fairy rings” even recorded.

▲ Photo courtesy Jeju Special Self-Governing Province ▲ Photo courtesy Jeju Special Self-Governing Province ▲ Photo courtesy Jeju Special Self-Governing Province