Feature Article September 25, 2003
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Stinkhorns!
If you walk outside and are
greeted by a foul smell, take a good look around, you may have a
stinkhorn growing nearby! What is a stinkhorn? It is an astonishing
fungus, which may appear abruptly in wood-chipped walks, gardens, or
lawns, particularly those that have been fertilized with manure. And
no, it is not the manure you are smelling, it is the fungus, which
uses its fetid smell to attract insects and thus spread its spores.
The stinkhorns, scientific name Phallales, include some of the most striking, bizarre, and in the tropics some of the most beautiful of fungi - and gross, because they stink so strongly you smell them before you see them. They arise from an egg that results from the immature mushroom's universal veil, quickly breaking the 'shell' and thrusting themselves up to heights of nearly several centimetres in a matter of hours! I have found Ravenel's Stinkhorn at the Perth Wildlife Reserve, though the Dog Stinkhorn may be more common, and the best time to see one (and to smell it at its worst) is early in the morning.
The 'egg' first appears, looking like a small puffball up to 2 cm in height, but if you were to cut it open you would see the central column of the stinkhorn surrounded by its head, a spore mass, and a gelatinous layer. Within hours it will 'hatch' (if conditions are right it may do so in 1 hour), and the gelatinous layer mixes with the spore mass to produce a sugary, foul-smelling, olive-green goo which attracts insects, particularly flies. As the flies feed, this sticky, smelly stuff sticks to them and the spores will be carried to new areas by the unwitting insects.
The mature, fruiting body is a single, spike-like stalk, up to several centimeters high, with a 1 to 4cm. cap covered with the olive-green, slimy goo, which is rapidly consumed by the insects, leaving the white or red (depending on species) of the cap visible. It is said that the 'egg' stage is edible - cook them after removing the slimy spore mass - described by one person as having little taste and an unpleasant texture. If you wait a few hours until the slimy tips become foul-smelling in the sun, you may reconsider. And do not, like one individual, collect them and put them in the fridge for a few days. While he was away his fianc discovered them (by smell!), quickly disposed of them, and vigorously scrubbed the fridge, though the smell lingered for months - and he says, she still married him!
Observations: My hummingbirds left about the first of September. A Green Heron has been frequenting my pond for two weeks, still there on Sep 15. A bear cub was seen near my house on Sep. 16. Also on the 16th a number of Shaggy Mane Mushrooms appeared after the showers. Share what you have seen, call Jean at 268-2518.
