Species Focus - Stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus)

Whilst the mushrooms get a lot of attention during the autumn, there is a fungus that is always lurking in the undergrowth that many people do not realise is there, hidden away but ever present. It is not until you learn the smell of this fungus that you understand how often you may smell it without even realising.

I am talking about the Stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus), which smells of rotting flesh. Once smelt the Stinkhorn is not forgotten. The reason it smells so bad is to attract the flies, which land on the spore-bearing top of the fungus and then disperse the sporeson their feet. The smell can travel some distance. I rarely get a whiff of this species, look down and see it. More commonly you have to follow your nose and look through the undergrowth until you eventually find it.

It begins life as an ‘egg’, often referred to as a Witches' Egg, about the size of a golf ball. It looks like it has been semi planted in the soil, with only the top half poking through. At this stage it doesn’t smell and will stay like this for a few weeks until it suddenly erupts and grows into its final phallic form in a few hours. The green cap is covered inspores when it erupts, but within a few hours it will lose this, leaving a white honeycomb-like structure behind.

The only other species which looks similar is the smaller Dog Stinkhorn (Mutinus caninus), which differs in having an orange appearance under the cap, a far less revolting smell and can often grow in clusters of ‘eggs’. It likes woodlands, often growing near or under rotting logs or branches and can also be found in gardens and parkland. It isn’t common in the region but has been seen in many of the vice-counties.

Whilst you are in the mood to look for fungi (and now that you are using your nose!), you can keep an eye out for some of the even weirder species that are turning up in North Wales. Red Cage (Clathrus ruber) and Devil’s Fingers (Clathrus archeri) are becoming more widespread in the UK andare finally arriving in our area.

Devil’s Fingers has been recorded on Cofnod’s ORS 7 times in North Wales from various sites. It prefers gardens and grasslands but can also be found on wood chip and in woodlands. The tentacle-like fruiting bodies erupt from an ‘egg’ and smell foul; an iconic species which would be almost impossible to misidentify.

Red Cage is one of the most distinctive species we have, erupting from an ‘egg’ and forming a beautiful cage structure which again smells bad. This year has seen the first record of this species in North Wales and perhaps it is the start of the species becoming a familiar site in some of our landscapes. It occurs on wood chip, soil, and warmer areas of woodland.

All these species can appear from June right the way through to January, depending on the weather. They are some of the most striking and outright weird species of fungi we have in the area, and I wish you good luck in trying to seek them out. If you do find any, we would love you to record them. Please enter your records, with photos, using the Cofnod ORS or the LERC Wales App.