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I still do not understand why prototaxites had to be three to nine meters tall. Nothing was tall back then. Plants are tall to avoid the shade of other plants. Prototaxites (probably) didn't "need" sunlight.
Spore dispersal isn't a good reason to be tall IMO.
If Prototaxites were just the stalk of a "fruiting body" of a fungus the network of mycelium must have been massive. Some prototaxites fossils show evidence of creatures/fungi colonizing them.
But we don't really know. Drives me nuts.
@futurebird Wow that height is nuts. Do we know for sure that these were individuals vs colonies (in the sense that coral or slime molds can appear to be individuals but there are "individuals" with different DNA)? For a colony, it's possible that internal competition by colony members to be in a reproductive advantage might help explain height. I've wondered if the shape of slime molds, when they coalesce, is impacted by internal competitive pressures this way, but I don't know the answer.