A while ago me and my boyfriend made one of those regular family visits to my family. We were enjoying ourselves and having fun, when my brother mentioned a weirdly looking mushroom that grows on our family property near the forest. He said that it's red and that the weirdest thing was that it kind of looks like an octopus, because it has tentacles. I looked at him and was very surprised. I never heard or saw anything like that and was of course very curious, what this strange thing is. I immediately used our uncle Google to try and solve this mysterious case. I was once again very pleasantly surprised of what I found.
Clathrus archeri-the hatching fungusWe were all very curious and wanted to know as much as possible about this mushroom, so I read a few interesting facts about it out loud, so that everybody in the room could hear it.
Below, I will list a few facts about the hatching (yeah, literally) fungus =>
- Latin name: Clathrus archeri
- common name: octopus stinkhorn, devil's fingers
- category: a wood fungus
- edibility: edible
- growing area: indigenous to Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand &
an introduced species in Europe (since 1914; maybe the first of the species was in France through military supplies during the start of the First World War), North America, Asia - habitat: moist and shaded meadows, near decaying wood chips, old stumps, in leaf litter, mixed or deciduous forests, near forests
- time of the growth: July-September
Places, where you can find it
- the formation:
=> when the fungus is young it grows from an suberumpent egg
- 4-6 cm high, 2-4 cm wide
- slimy, moist, gelatinous
- the eggs are often found in clusters
The young fungus
When the fungus starts to hatch
=> when the fungus matures it forms 4-7 longer slender arms that erect out of the sac and attached at the top and then unfold
- tentacle-like fingers
- length: 5-10 cm
- looks like a starfish or a red flower
=> when the "arms" are unfolded, we can see a colored interior (color: pink-red) that is covered with smelly mucus stains/mucous substance (color: dark brown-olive-to-black) with spores and contains gleba
The mature fungus
=> at first the "fingers" are joined and then they spread out
The devil's fingers in all of its beauty
The Joker's hat
- smell: the eggs smell like radish; when it is mature it smells like putrid, decaying flesh (it even looks like it because of the colour);
- spore carrier: flies
- other versions/variabilities of it: the same look of the fungus, but it has white tentacles (C. archeri var. alba, reported in India)
The pictures aren't mine. &
Used sites:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clathrus_archeri
http://eol.org/pages/1029300/overview
https://nerdist.com/watch-the-devils-finger-fungus-hatch-like-a-xenomorph-egg/
http://www.rtvslo.si/blog/doba/rdeca-zvezda-v-gozdu/94007
That's really creepy mushroom @mystic-creature. It looks a little like a alien facehugger egg.
Unfortunately, I saw this post too late for upvoting. I will follow you to don't miss future posts and pictures you will make :-)
Haha, it really looks like it. :D :D And thank you. :)
Alien?:O
It looks like it as well. :D :D
You did a great research!
Posted using Partiko Android
Yes, I did. :D I wanted to know as much as possible about that mushroom. :D
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