I have no idea how this weird octopus-like mushrooms came from Tasmania and Australia just to the forest behind my house.They look like aliens in fall forest and I believe any alien ewer smelled that bad as these mushrooms do.But still, this is nature and according to Wikipedia even edible one:
The Octopus Stinkhorn is edible, but its taste is extremely foul. The eggs of this fungus taste and smell like radish and are the only edible stage. It should only be eaten in a wilderness survival circumstance when no other food is available. In other cases, it is considered inedible.
| Octopus Stinkhorn | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Octopus Stinkhorn (Clathrus archeri) with suberumpent eggs | |
| Conservation status | |
|
uncommon
|
|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Fungi |
| Division: | Basidiomycota |
| Class: | Agaricomycetes |
| Order: | Phallales |
| Family: | Phallaceae |
| Genus: | Clathrus |
| Species: | C. archeri |
| Binomial name | |
| Clathrus archeri (Berk.) Dring 1980 |
|
I’ve never seen that one, and I’m not sure I’d want to eat a stinky plant. My mother had a carrion flower in her shadehouse (Stapelia Lepida – pic at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Stapelia_lepida.jpg), and while the flower was stunning, in tones of strong mustard and deep, deep purple, the smell of rotting meat was overpowering. Made it very popular with flies.
One wonders what advantage the octopus stinkhorn gains by being so whiffy…
Octopus stinkhorn smell of putrid flesh attracts flies…and ONLY flies!
I saw carrion flower in Florence, but it was not flowering, so I couldn’t smell it which perhaps was not bad
I am jealous! I Iove the stinkhorns. I’ve seen a few, but not this one.
Are there many different stinkhorns?
the ones from my picture are actually quiet fascinating as they are red red .
There are a bunch of them! Some look quite unpleasant. I like them all though.
I like them, too-when they open they look like extraterestial
flowers…
I think I would pass on eating this one. How unusual.
me too …
What a wonderfully strange thing!! I think I’m happy that I can enjoy it in a photograph so I don’t have to smell it!
Absolutely yes
Thanks for visiting my Hawaii Island News Blog. You blog is fascinating. As one writer so aptly put it,, “I don’t have to smell it!” Touche. Great, informative site.
Thank you !
I’ve never seen anything like that before, how weird!
indeed….
I have never seen this. Interesting color
Yes-the only red one in fall forest…
Amazingly strange! As someone above said, I’m glad to enjoy your photos and not have to smell it!
I agree with you!
How creepy! It looks inedible, it’s like the plant wants you to know it!
But it attracts flies….
Very aptly named for looks apart from smell; they do look like they are about to move and crawl away to some nearby watery home.
They really do look like that, they are fascinating.
Intriguing.
Yes, like a sort of an extraterrestrial….;)
A nice shade of pink and definitely looks extraterrestrial…(*Thank you* for stopping by and “liking” at my blog:)
Thank you!
About a month ago I found one of these beautiful, strange flowers growing in my lawn, it was striking red with black ‘arms’. Then three weeks ago I found a large section of my garden overtaken with them. I cannot detect any odour coming from them, but I haven’t been keen to get too close.
Why not picture them?