Stinkhorn Mushrooms

Stinkhorn Mushrooms are group of mushrooms that get their name from the fact you may smell these mushroom before you see them. We were at our son's house for a few days and I found several of these Ravenel's Stinkhorn (Phallus ravenelii) in the new mulch. The body of this mushroom emerges from a pink or lavender-colored "egg" to form a tall, cylindrical, hollow and spongy white stalk with a bell-shaped cap. The cap is covered in a foul-smelling olive-green spore slime, which attracts insects that help to spread the spores.



Once these mushrooms emerge from the ground they are short lived and will wilt within a day or two.