A stinkhorn that emerges from a whitish egg as two to five hollow, spongy, orange to red columns joined at the top. The inner faces of the columns near the apex carry a brown, foul-smelling spore slime that attracts flies. It is a saprobe of mulch, lawns, gardens and woody debris, mainly in warm regions.
Edibility disputed; do not eat. Orson Miller described the egg's taste as mild and listed it as edible. An 1890 report by Farlow described poisoning: a girl had convulsions and slept for 52 hours after eating a small piece, and hogs that ate it died.
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Habitat
Saprobic; alone or in groups near woody debris, in lawns, gardens, cultivated soil and wood-chip mulch; spring through fall, or over winter in warm climates.
Distribution
North America from about Pennsylvania south to the Gulf Coast (where it is common) and Mexico; the Caribbean, Central and South America; also Africa, Australasia (e.g., New Zealand), China and Hawaii. It is probably introduced in North America with exotic plants. The Australian record rests on a single 1948 collection and is considered presumably erroneous.
Characteristics
Egg: whitish, 2-3 cm high, containing the folded red structure in a brownish gel. Fruiting body: 5-12 cm tall, 2-4 cm wide. Arms: usually 3-5 (sometimes 2), hollow, up to about 1 cm thick, fused at the apex, orange to red, fading to pinkish or yellowish. Volva: white, sac-like at the base. Gleba: brown, slimy, on the inner surfaces near the top. Odor: fetid. Microscopic: spores subellipsoid to cylindric, smooth, 3.5-4.5 x 1.5-2 µm.
