Phallus indusiatus

Phallus sp. of stinkhorns.

Basidiomycota > Class Agaricomycetes > Order Phallales > Family Phallaceae.

The immature fruiting body is the “egg” as in other stinkhorns.
The main body is a single, hollow, spongy, unbranched stalk.
The stalk may be brightly coloured.

On top is a cap with the dark greenish gleba on its ridges.
Some have a net-like structure, the indusium, that hangs from the cap.
It may be short, extend to the volva and sometimes flares out.
They may be brightly coloured.
They grow in wood in the leaf litter.

Phallus indusiatus.

Widespread in tropical areas including Australia.
Grows on rotting wood in leaf litter either singly or in groups.

The stalk arises from the white to reddish-brown underground egg.

Mature stalks are white, spongy and hollow, up to 25 cm high and may be curved.

The conical cap, up to 4 cm high, has a small hole at the top.
The ridged cap surface is covered with gleba.

A netted skirt or indusium hangs from the base of the cap.
It is a cream or pale yellow.
The holes in the net may be round or polygonal.
When well developed it may reach the volva.
It may flare out but later collapses around the stalk.

J.F.