Devil's Fingers, Octopus Stinkhorn

Description:

Clathrus archeri (synonyms Lysurus archeri, Anthurus archeri, Pseudocolus archeri), commonly known as Octopus Stinkhorn, is indigenous to Australia and Tasmania and an introduced species in Europe, North America and Asia. The young fungus erupts from a suberumpent egg by forming into four to seven elongated slender arms initially erect and attached at the top. The arms then unfold to reveal a pinkish-red interior covered with a dark-olive spore-containing gleba. In maturity it smells of putrid flesh. Recently, C. archeri var. alba with white tentacles or arms has been reported from the shola forests in the Western Ghats, Kerala, India.[1] The pinkish-red color and fetid odour of the ripe fungus is thought to resemble decaying flesh and thereby attracting flies which unwittingly spread the gleba and thus the species.

Habitat:

It is found gregarious to clustered in moist, shaded meadows and deciduous or mixed forests during July to September.

Notes:

Edibility The Octopus Stinkhorn is edible, but its taste is extremely foul. The eggs of this fungus taste and smell like radish and are the only edible stage. It should only be eaten in a wilderness survival circumstance when no other food is available. In other cases, it is considered inedible.