Witches Fingers

One of the most unique, if not downright unusual fungi to be found in our backyard gardens is one called the dog stinkhorn, or witches fingers. These oddities in the fungi world are related to the puff ball mushrooms, but have a feature that puff balls lack. They stink! The common name of stinkhorn is not by accident, when scientists first encountered them I am sure the conversations were straight up as strange as the mushroom itself. The scientific name is mutinus caninus, which literally translates to "dog-like penis.".  This phallic-shaped mushroom reminded early mushroom fans of certain body parts of their canine friends and thus earned the mushroom a moniker that is as off putting as the smell associated with it.

These mushrooms start life buried in loose soil, mulch and other loose organic matter as an egg-shaped bulb. During rainy, cooler seasons, like autumn and late spring the “egg” will crack open and the stem of the stinkhorn will emerge and grow at a rapid pace. It is reported to grow six inches in less than six hours!  The orange-pink mushroom has a slime called gleba covering the top portion of the stalk.

This is the goo that produces the smell associated with the stinkhorn. It is said to smell like a cat litter box to some, and to others like rotting meat, only stronger in its intensity. Because of this odor gardeners around the globe are on a mission to eradicate it from their beautiful flower beds. After all we cannot have anything that smells like cat feces interfering with the delightful smell of our roses. It is an absolute assault to the olfactory system. How did the stinkhorn find its way into the gardens of amateur and professional horticulturists, botanists and other gardening aficionados? By way of the mulch and soil they use of course. The spores of this fungus live in mulch and soil and when those substances are purchased and placed in our gardens and yards, we transport the spores and viola, we have a smorgasbord of stinky fungi seemingly overnight.

Not all is bad however, these mushrooms are very competent at breaking down organic matter and making your soil richer and healthier. With a more nutrient rich soil, your flowers and other plants will benefit. The stinkhorn itself cannot harm you or your plants. However, the hot boiling water and bleach solution many use to rid themselves of this uninvited, stinky garden intruder may. The gleba covering the tip of the horn, because of its very stinky compounds, attracts flies, ants and other insects who find themselves slogging around in a gooey substance that would be much like us mucking around in thick mud. They take spores of the stinkhorn with them when they finally divest themselves from what they assumed would be tasty meal. Each time the fly or ant stops in a new location, spores are left behind, just like bees transporting pollen. Thus allowing the stinkhorn to conquer gardens one mulchy path at a time. Once the rain washes the stinky goo from the stalk of the mushroom, creatures like carrion beetles, burying beetles and even snails or slugs may find them a tasty addition to their diet. It is not uncommon to find stinkhorns with holes eaten from them hinting at a dinner time visit from one of our other garden visitors. The one above was feasted on by an American carrion beetle ( he is visible on the side of the stalk).

There are twenty-two species of stinkhorns within this family of mushrooms. Each one has a unique and interesting shape, and most have some sort of stinky attractant to get insects to aid them in spreading their spores to new areas. It is reported they are edible, but how a person could get past the smell and convince themselves to try it is beyond me to understand. The edibility is debatable among mycologists and depending upon who you ask you may be told DO NOT eat or go ahead, they are delicious. I guess it is up to each person to decide. In Ireland and England their popularity is much more readily accepted, and some chefs equate their taste and texture to a radish that tastes like a water chestnut. It is the egg-like structure, in its earliest stages that is edible, once it is a fruiting body above the ground it is best to avoid it entirely. These witches eggs, as they are sometimes called should be peeled and cooked well before consuming. As with all mushrooms always make sure you have a correct identification, if in doubt DO NOT EAT!  The early egg stage of this mushroom is similar in appearance and texture to the early stage of another mushroom we absolutely want to avoid and that is the deaths cap mushroom. Supposedly the stinkhorn egg will have a gooey green center…sounds appetizing, doesn’t it?

As you work in your gardens this spring, sprucing them up with fresh mulch and soil keep an eye open for the witches eggs. You can remove them and with any luck you will succeed in keeping these stinky little fungi from sprouting their witches fingers. Or if you are like me, let them stay and watch as nature does its thing, and your soil becomes richer for it.