Phallus indusiatus, the bamboo fungus or veiled lady, is a tropical stinkhorn whose white, hollow stalk carries a lacy, net-like skirt (indusium) hanging from beneath a conical, foul-smelling cap. It hatches from an underground egg, usually at night, and the mature fruit body lasts only a few days. It is edible and has been cultivated commercially in China since 1979, where it is sold dried as a delicacy.
Edible and prized in Chinese cuisine, used in stir-fries and chicken soups. Usually sold dried and rehydrated by soaking or simmering until tender; it can also be stuffed. Most commercial product is cultivated. Eat wild stinkhorns or their eggs only when identified with certainty.
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Habitat
Saprobic, singly or in groups on disturbed ground and among wood chips, in woodlands and gardens with rich soil and well-rotted woody material; in Asia among bamboo, typically fruiting after heavy rain. Cultivated on bamboo-waste sawdust under a thin layer of non-sterilised soil, and on other plant residues.
Distribution
Tropical and subtropical: Africa, South and Central America, Tobago, Mexico, Asia (India, Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia, southern China, Japan, Taiwan) and Australia. Cultivated commercially in China, notably Fujian Province.
Characteristics
Egg: underground, whitish to buff or reddish brown, up to 6 cm across, with a thick mycelial cord at the base. Cap: conical to bell-shaped, 1.5-4 cm wide, pitted and ridged, covered with greenish-brown, foul-smelling gleba, with a small hole at the top. Indusium: net-like with polygonal or round openings; in well-developed specimens it reaches the volva. Stem: 7-25 cm long, 1.5-3 cm thick, white, hollow and spongy. Volva: loose remains of the egg's outer layer at the base. Odour: sharp, sickly sweet, carrion-like. Spores: smooth, elliptical or slightly curved, hyaline, 2-3 x 1-1.5 µm.
