Mutinus elegans
The Elegant Stinkhorn is
a mushroom you will probably smell before you see. As its
name suggests, this fungus
gives off a strong, unpleasant odor, similar to rotting
meat. The Elegant Stinkhorn is
long and narrow, pinkish-white, covered with green slime. It
is usually four to seven inches long. This mushroom has a
whitish cup near the bottom, and is attached to the ground
with what looks like white string. This "string," called
mycelia,
is actually the fungus, the mushroom you see is like its
"flower." Copyright, Bruce
Bacon David Dennis,
NAMA The Elegant Stinkhorn can
be seen July through September. It grows on old wood, dead
leaves, or in rich soil. It can be found in many
places, including woods, fields,
and gardens--wherever there is decaying
plant material. The Elegant Stinkhorn
attracts insects with its smell, especially flies, such as
the Bluebottle fly. This fungus depends on insects to
spread, much like flowers. As the flies eat the stinkhorn,
spores
(much like pollen from flowers) attach to the insects'
bodies. The spores are in the stinkhorn's green slime.
Later, these spores can grown into new fungi.
