Common Stinkhorn

Phallus impudicus – Edible

Deciduous and mixed forests. Summer, autumn.

Young fruiting bodies are the size of a hen's egg, whitish-greyish, sometimes only the upper part protrudes from under rotten leaves and twigs. The covering has 3 layers, the inner one of gelatinous consistency, so a mushroom pulled up feels softly squashy. All the life force is stored in the inner layer, which, when the covering bursts at the top, very quickly, sometimes within 2 hours, grows a stem 8-20 cm long and 1.3-4 cm thick, tapering at both ends. The receptacle is stem-shaped, honeycombed, spongy, white, with a bell-shaped, green, blackish-green, very slimy, stinking head. The stench can be smelled from a distance of 20—30 m; it attracts insects, and after they lick off the slime a white head with an opening at the top remains. Grows singly or in groups, fairly common. A vodka tincture of this mushroom was used to treat rheumatism. Medical scientists are still interested in it today. Young egg-shaped fruiting bodies are edible.