Elegant Stinkhorn, Mutinus elegans. Note the white, egg-like immature stinkhorns around the more mature stalk.
Stinkhorns are a type of fungus which produce a foul-scented, rod-shaped mushroom. They belong to the order Phallales. Their method of reproduction is different than most mushrooms, which use the air to spread their spores. Stinkhorns instead produce a sticky spore mass on their tip which has an odor of carrion, dung, or other things that attract flies. These land on the stinkhorn, getting the spore mass on their legs and inadvertently carrying it to other locations.
It is unknown whether most stinkhorns are edible or not. Few people have the urge to consume such small, foul-smelling mushrooms.
Species:
Phallus impudicus, The Common Stinkhorn[1] (http://www.bluewillowpages.com/mushroomexpert/phallus_impudicus.html)
Phallus hadriani, (sometimes considered as a subspicies of Phallus impudicus)
All stinkhorns arise from an egg-like sack and are therefore related to puffballs and earthstars because the spores are enclosed in a structure.
The two stinkhorn families, phallaceae and clathraceae, are classified according to the structure of the fruiting body and I’m lucky(?) enough to have a representative from each family.
I triple bagged all those smelly octopi stinkhorns and their eggs and left them with the trash, but I still saw vultures circling overhead looking in vain for something dead.
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