Species introCountry intro
Common Stinkhorn
Meerdaelbos, Oud-Heverlee, Belgium (Oct, 2013).
Second time in my life I find one of these. This time in my own backyard: the Meerdaelbos. First sight was in some woods in Holland in late summer, but that time I did not make pictures because it was covered on flies. Indeed this is the fungus purpose, for it makes a foul smell to attract insects. The dispersal of spores is different from most "typical" mushrooms that spread their spores through the air. Stinkhorns instead produce a sticky spore mass on their tip which has a sharp, sickly-sweet odor of carrion to attract flies and other insects. Despite its foul smell, it is not poisonous and the young mushroom is consumed in parts of France and Germany.
Habitat: it occurs in habitats rich in wood debris such as forests and mulched gardens. It appears from summer to late autumn.
''Phallus impudicus'', known colloquially as the common stinkhorn, is a widespread fungus recognizable for its foul odor and its phallic shape when mature, the latter feature giving rise to several names in 17th-century England.
