Species details
Dog stinkhorn
Mutinus caninus
Inedible
Photo: Andre Hosper · CC BY 4.0 · Photo source · License
Description
A slender stinkhorn emerging from a white egg; its tip is initially coated in olive-green slimy gleba that attracts flies.
Identification features
A 6–10 cm high, very fragile, white to pale pink porous stem emerges from a white egg. The conical tip is orange-red and initially covered in olive-green foul-smelling slime.
Identification checklist
Check the small white egg, very slender porous stem and orange-red conical tip. The green slimy gleba is confined to the tip.
How to separate similar species
Mutinus elegans is stouter and has a proportionally longer coloured tip. In the egg stage it may be confused with other stinkhorns.
Habitat
Grows in dark damp deciduous woodland on leaf litter and rotten stumps, usually in groups, in late summer and early autumn.
Fruiting period
August, September
Similar species
- Mutinus elegans
- Common stinkhorn (Phallus impudicus)
- Clathrus archeri