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Funny Fungi
updated: Oct 22, 2012, 8:44 AM

By Edhat Subscriber

I found this strange fungus in my garden. They are very smelly, and the flies seem to love them. I have never seen anything like them. Has anybody ever seen this variety?

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Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

MTNDRIVER	2012-10-22 08:49 AM
Stinkhorn! Well named, eh? Lots of varieties.
SEEDLADY	2012-10-22 08:56 AM
whoa--now that's strange. Looks like something from a sci-fi movie. Sure they're a fungus? Some succulents have a rank smelling flowering/fruiting mechanism which depends on flies for pollination. Fungi usually like dampness, and this is in a succulent bed--presumably drier soil. Take an intact sample to Terra Del Sol nursery and show it to Tony, who is a succulent expert. If it likes dry soil areas, he might be familiar with it.
SEEDLADY	2012-10-22 09:09 AM
Wiki tells All! Lysurus mokusin, probably an introduced species. Looked it up and Wikipedia has a fascinating section on fungi, all illustrated. Scrolling down, I became amazed at the variety of forms fungi can take. Take a look! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Fungi/Selected_species
COMMENT 334197P	2012-10-22 09:42 AM
The Blurry Lingam?
SEEDLADY	2012-10-22 09:49 AM
now, now...
COMMENT 334208	2012-10-22 09:53 AM
I occasionally have one pop up in my yard. The dogs love to rub against them for their stink. Creepy looking plants!
COMMENT 334209	2012-10-22 09:53 AM
don't touch...super smelly!
MTNDRIVER	2012-10-22 10:15 AM
I've had them also, in an area with a thick layer of mulch. The ones here were pale with a black tip, a different species. We also have the succulent with the stinky flower that Seedlady mentioned, and it's blooming now--a Stapelia, don't know the species. First time it bloomed I was outside and couldn't figure out where the rotting meat smell was coming from--thought some animal must have died in the garden. Then I found the flower--with flies all over it. Uck. It's interesting, though. As are the stinkhorns. Not tempted to touch either, however.
COMMENT 334375P	2012-10-22 03:03 PM
I've seen those in a yard. I'd offer a name I've heard it called, but I can't repeat it fully. Three words, start's with "Dog's", ends with "Fungus". Not trying to be crass, just repeating what I've heard.
COMMENT 334416P	2012-10-22 04:17 PM
@375...middle word start with a 'P', or 'D'? I'm ok with crass, especially if its funny, this qualifies!
COMMENT 334520P	2012-10-22 10:49 PM
@197. Thanks for the great laugh.
COMMENT 334521P	2012-10-22 10:54 PM
Try planting the Voodoo lily (bulb) in your garden. Dracunculus vulgaris. I thought it was a cool-looking flower to add to my garden. Then I found out where the "vulgaris" part comes in. Pee--uuuuuu! What a stench. Pretty flowers, though . . .
LALALALA	2012-10-23 02:35 AM
Stinkhorn ,yup.
COMMENT 334628P	2012-10-23 10:33 AM
What a coincidence; this is from Nov. 21, 2011 New Yorker (food issue), by Louise Erdrich, which I read just yesterday. I sure hope it isn't censored: "My yard, meanwhile, was going to the dark side. I had recently added new mulch, from which *Phallus impudicus* sprouted, along with several other devil's-penis varieties of the morel's close relatives: stinkhorns My garden looked like a male-genital-disease Web site."

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