I found an amazing looking bright red fungus growing outside my workplace this morning, its like nothing I've ever seen before. I thought it was a curious plastic ball someone had left on the ground, that is how odd it looks. It has an incredible lattice structure. It didn't take me long to find a name for it as its so distinctive: Clathrus ruber, commonly known as the latticed stinkhorn, the basket stinkhorn, or the red cage fungus. I didn't notice it smelling, but apparently it can have quite a pungent smell. It is not native to Australia, but in fact quite widespread across the globe, remarkable.
Original photo taken on my phone in poor light when I first spotted the fungus - not a great shot, but you can see how much more upright and rounded the fungus was when it first appeared in the rain!
Glad you got an ID.
ReplyDeleteAs you discovered, some of these things are actually easy, because they are so weird.
I haven't seen that one, but the Starfish Fungus Aseroe rubra is similar, just more open in arms.
Denis
Fantastic fungus Hazel! Cool and weird - looks like something from a movie! :o)
ReplyDeleteIt's more likely to be Colus pusillus.
ReplyDeleteThanks! Im no expert - amazing how these two species look so similar, how do you tell them apart?
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