Phallus impudicus
29th September 2010
The Common Stinkhorn is a curious thing to find but I can accept that it is one of many strange and unexpected things
in the bushes behind the greenhouse.
It generally prefers locations rich in wood debris and I think it has been enjoying the stumps of some Leyland Cypress
that I cut down to make space for the greenhouse - I simply didn't have the energy to remove the stumps so I built
benches over them and pretended they weren't there. This is my reward.
Perhaps it is just a coincidence but the only other fruiting bodies I have seen were also growing on the stump
of a Leyland.
The mushroom is rather pungent and unfortunately it matured among the Nerine just as they came up to flower
but it is a fascinating thing and I wasn't prepared to discourage it.
31st October 2015