Tanuseene noored viljakehad on kerajad ja valged või kollakad. Kasvades sirutub sellest välja kärjetaoline valge viljakeha, roheka, limase, eoseid sisaldava gleebaga tipus. Seene kasv toimub väga kiiresti - sageli vaid mõne tunni jooksul. Haisvat limast gleebat külastavad meelsasti kärbsed, kes sellega ühtlasi seene eoseid levitavad.

by Michael Kuo

Stinkhorns are astonishing. Their abrupt appearance in gardens and lawns is frequently the cause of considerable consternation; they arise from an "egg" that results from the immature mushroom's universal veil, quickly breaking the "shell" and thrusting themselves up to heights of nearly 10 inches in a matter of hours!

Phallus impudicus, a common and widely distributed stinkhorn, was named by a French mycological pioneer with a French sense of humor. He may have found a specimen like the one photographed by Konnie Robertson, to the right. At any rate, like the other stinkhorns, Phallus impudicus covers its tip with a foul smelling and spore-laden slime; flies are attracted to it, and carry the spores away as they continue on their little fly adventures.

Stinkhorns have been much maligned over the years, probably because, like Scleroderma polyrhizum, they appear where we don't want them: in the sterile botanical fortresses we try to maintain as our "yards" and "gardens." But unlike Scleroderma polyrhizum or dandelions, stinkhorns are extremely phallic, thrusting botanical invasion psychology into realms best analyzed by Freud. Your neighbor, stalking dandelions with a hand trowel every morning, is apparently no match for Etty Darwin (granddaughter of Charles), who "so despised stinkhorns that she mounted an antifungal jihad with the aid of gloves and a pointed stick," burning the stinkhorns in secret to protect "the purity of thought among her female servants" (Money, p. 3).

Older Phallus impudicus specimens are occasionally mistaken for Yellow Morels. After the spore-bearing slime has been picked clean by insects, the pitted and ridged surface of the cap can resemble the cap of a morel. Since stinkhorns are hollow, and since the smell is not always as foul as it frequently is, it's easy to see why misidentification occurs. However, stinkhorns typically grow in summer, rather than spring--and a close examination will usually reveal traces of the slime. Misidentification is not a disaster, however; stinkhorns are edible. The "eggs" are even considered delicacies in some eastern countries.