Update - Weird Fungus Identified

Seastar Stinkhorn
(Anthurus archeri)

Update to my Post on Monday  "Weird or What! and this is not a joke"

Dr Tom May, Senior Mycologist, Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne, has very kindly provided all of the following information.
He feels that our ‘weird’ find is a Seastar Stinkhorn (Anthurus archeri), fungus. He describes the Stinkhorn family as an assemblage of bizarre forms sharing strongly-smelling fruit-bodies that usually produce a slimy mass of millions of tiny spores.  

Our specimen was a bit old, and Dr May wrote “When young the Anthurus has slime along the arms (rather than at the base) and I think there is a little bit of slime still on the arms.  Maybe you will see some more specimens - they often occur in troops. The tiny insects are most likely springtails (collembola) - these are often found on fungi. Great to see fungi in blog.”   

Diane wasn’t the only person to liken this strange form to something from outer space. Dr May wrote, in a recent article for a forthcoming issue of Wild Magazine, that Bushwalkers, upon finding the multi armed fruit-body of the Stinkhorn  bursting from its egg-like sac, could be forgiven for thinking that miniature aliens had landed!

The ‘face’ which showed in our photo is part of a hollow stem which, at maturity, can be up to 10cm long. 

Stinkhorns feed on dead organic matter and, in so doing, they contribute to nutrient recycling. Wood chip mulch in urban areas is a ready food source. Also, the slimy spores of stinkhorns rely on animals for dispersal.  This information, from Dr May, explains how we were lucky enough to have our very own stinkhorn.  We’d spread wood chip mulch  throughout our garden at the beginning of this year – much to the delight of many animals, who’ve dug in and scattered it quite diligently… and, most likely have played host to those slimy Stinkhorn spores!

It was also interesting to read that Stinkhorns are found worldwide, but are especially diverse in Australia.  Dr May  concluded with “It is such an unusual fungus, and always interesting to see. “

We were delighted to receive such a wonderfully informative, and quick, response to our query by an obviously dedicated and knowledgeable Scientist.

Dr May's current projects are:

. Ausfungi – a catalogue of Australian Fungi

. Interactive tools for identification of macrofungi  - see link below


For anyone interested in identifying fungi, go to Australia-wide Fungimap Scheme, a mapping project for fungi. Details of how to join and to submit records are detailed there) 

Weird or What ! and this is not a joke

MD came in and told me to get my camera and go down to the backyard, so I did - that always meant a great photo opportunity of one thing or another!!  Wasn't disappointed either ......  

In my excitement, I forgot to measure it but that's an ordinary garden slug next to it - probably just as amazed as we were I think!  In the sun, its soft spongy texture was quickly deflating. 

Here's a side on view.  The little specky things were some type of insect crawling around on it.

Now this is where it gets even more weirder. 

Inside it was a series of hollow little tubes in a lighter colour, but when viewed really close up it resembled a face.  I tried every which-way to try and get a proper shot of the inside - if you click on the photo to enlarge, you may just see what I'm talking about!  I promise this is not a joke, I haven't manipulated the image in any way other than to crop the photo.  I do hope it shows up.

Obviously it's a fungi of some sort, and it just knocked us out at it's weirdness.