Sidestep

The world’s deadliest mushroom has  been invading by cloning itself. The poisonous mushroom is ((Amanita phalloides) an invasive fungus whose fatal amatoxin accounts for more than 90 percent of deaths from mushrooms worldwide, but how it spread from its European origins to colonize every continent except Antarctica has long been a mystery. Now, researchers have found a reason why: the California version of the death cap can fertilize itself and produce perfect copies, sidestepping the need to mate before blowing its spores over an unconquered region.“The diverse reproductive strategies of invasive death caps are likely facilitating its rapid spread, revealing a profound similarity between plant, animal and fungal invasions,” researchers wrote.