Mushrooms have been known and used for hundreds of years, and even Hippocrates mentioned their medicinal values in his writings, sometime around 400 BC. They grow in the wild and, until 1652, it was not mentioned that they were also grown by people. In the beginning, they were not consumed as food, but used as natural medicines, and it was not until 1894 that the first mushroom-growing structure was designed and built. It was erected in Chester County, Pennsylvania, now known as the world capital of mushrooms.

Nowadays, according to a business that sells potent Penis Envy mushrooms, some species of mushrooms have become extremely expensive, being considered culinary delicacies:

• Tibetan worm fungus – 2000 dollars for 200 grams

This fungus parasitizes and grows in the bodies of caterpillars of ghost moths. Once there, the fungus eats its living host. Caterpillars die slowly, reaching to be mummified upright on the surface of the earth.

• European white truffles – 3600 dollars for a pound

What makes truffles so expensive is that they are difficult to harvest and are found only in very small quantities. There are so few of them that an entire black market has emerged around them.

• Matsutake mushrooms – between 1000 and 2000 dollars for a half a kilo

This delicacy that is cherished for its fruity, spicy aroma is also an endangered species.

• Morchella fungus – 500 dollars per kilogram

The problem with these mushrooms is that they appear only in a particular season. In the United States, they can be found from the end of March to May.