16/10/2026
Whilst walking through a woodland you may notice a pungent, unpleasant smell similar to that of a rotting dead animal. If you trace the odour back to its source, you may be surprised to find it is coming from a rather bizarre looking mushroom!
This is the stinkhorn, a fungus that is quite common in woodlands throughout Europe. In 1753, Swedish taxonomist Carl Linneaus gave the stinkhorn its scientific name of Phallus impudicus, which means ‘shamelessly phallic’.
Stinkhorns grow on decomposing wood and leaves, and unlike most mushrooms, the stinkhorn’s cap is covered in a dense, slimy green substance that contains the spores known as the gleba.
The rotting flesh odour of the gleba attracts flies that then feed on the slime (it’s a sugary treat to them) and disperse the spores.
The stinkhorn is one of the fastest ‘growing’ fungi in the world (5mm per minute), so fast that a crackling sound can be heard as it expands! The growth is so strong that they can even push through asphalt
The first sign of a stinkhorn is an egglike object known as a witch’s egg.
Surprisingly, stinkhorns are edible at this stage, although it is the central part that is eaten and is said to taste like radish or raw turnip!
The smell doesn’t just attract flies as there is a species of carrion beetle that is associated with stinkhorns.
Stinkhorns have been used medicinally for many years to treat several ailments, including tumours, and modern research has found that they may be effective in treating cancer.
Some Victorians found the appearance of stinkhorns so embarrassing that they went around their local woodland destroying the fungus to protect the morals of impressionable young ladies!
With thanks to our Wharton Rangers for information and photographs of this curious fungi!
