This phallic fungus also smells like rotting flesh
Popular Science...
Animals are not the only stinky living things on this planet. The putrid corpse flower blooms with the stench of rotting flesh, as does the lesser-known (but equally pungent) Bulbophyllum phalaenopsis. Then there is the elegant stinkhorn (Mutinus elegans), a fungus known for its phallic appearance and spores that give off the odor of rotting meat.
Also called the devil’s dipstick, elegant stinkhorns are found across most of eastern North America, particularly from spring to the earliest days of winter. It has also been found in parts of Europe and Asia. They typically prefer temperate climates and looser soils, springing up in gardens, mulch beds, forests, and wood debris during warm and wet weather. They can grow to about four to six inches tall, and a mature mushroom will only last a day or two before subsiding.
All of that stench comes from the dark and slimy coating on the mushroom’s tip called the gleba, and it serves an important purpose. The fungi uses this dark and stinky spore mass to get the flies and other insects buzzing. Once they get a whiff of that rotten flesh smell, they will land on the stinkhorn and get covered in spores. As the bugs fly away, they spread the stinkhorn’s spores far and wide, so that more stinkhorn can pop up elsewhere.
During the Victorian era, their penis-like appearance was reportedly distressing to some ladies. According to one story, naturalist Charles Darwin’s daughter Henrietta (or Etty), was openly combative towards the elegant stinkhorn. She would roam the woods armed with a spear, following her nose to the offensive mushrooms. Her niece recalled that Etty would find the fungi and “poke his putrid carcass into her basket.” After cleansing the territory, Etty would then secretly burn it to protect “the morals of the maids.”
If you encounter this bizarre fungus in the wild like Etty Darwin, don’t worry. Beyond offending your nostrils, it is not poisonous or dangerous to your health. But you still probably shouldn’t eat it anyway.
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