Comments

  2. G. Tingey says

    Have you ever seen or worse still SMELT …
    Phallus impudicus?

    ( I kid you not – the common stinkhorn )

  5. William Gulvin says

    Well, Pseudocolus fusiformis IS a member (in very good standing, thank you) of the Stinkhorn Family. http://www.mushroomexpert.com/pseudocolus_fusiformis.html Its smell is loudly and profoundly fecal. It loves growing on all the wood chip mulch that so many people seem compelled to spread around their houses. If one neighbor spreads wood chips and another owns a dog, the Stinky Squid can cause much “fun” to ensue between them over the innocent dog’s bathroom habits and whether the dog is being properly cleaned up after. More info still at: http://www.bostonmycologicalclub.org/Stories/0015_Sighting_Pseudocolus_fusiformis.html

    The Titan Arum mentioned above is, of course, a member of the Arum Family, which includes several offensively aromatic notables such as the Skunk Cabbage.

  7. Marie says

    We have Phallus impudicus growing vigorously for the last 2 years at — get this! — the local elementary school bus stop. We parents just try to ignore it and think of England.

  8. Rey Fox says

    I’ve never seen any squid plants. I have, however, seen the Octopus Tree at Cape Meares, Oregon.

  9. says

    And don’t forget the basket or lattice fungus, Ileodictyon, another member of the stinkhorns. It bursts out of its ‘egg’, unfolds into a giant buckyball and rolls around (but not under its own volition, of course), shedding spores. Very cool.

  10. says

    I took a field fungal ecology class a couple of years ago and we found a nice stinkhorn specimen. Jokes all day long! The spam filter won’t let me name the subject of the jokes, so I’ll try the scrambling trick: Vigraa.