Clathrus archeri (Berkeley) Dring
Kew Bull. 35(1): 29. 1980.

Common Name: Octopus stinkhorn

Synonym: Lysurus archeri Berkeley; Anthurus archeri (Berkeley) E. Fisher; Pseudocolus archeri (Berkeley) Lloyd

• Sporocarp

  Fruiting body arising from a suberumpent egg, up to 5.0 cm tall, 4.0 cm in diameter, dense, white to lilac-colored rhizomorphs at the base; exoperidium glabrous, membranous, white, sometimes tinged lilac to brown, over a gelatinous under-layer; egg rupturing with elongation of four to seven slender arms, up to 9.0 cm in length, at first erect, the tips clasped, soon recurved; inner surface of arms shallowly corrugate, sordid pinkish-red, the upper two-thirds coated with a slimy, dark-olive gleba; exterior surface of arms pale-pink, wrinkled, pitted; arms fused to a short, hollow pseudostipe; context thin, fragile; odor strongly fetid at maturity; taste not investigated.

• Spores

  Spores 3.5-5.5 (7.0) x 1.5-2.0 µm, oblong to cylindrical, smooth, thin-walled; spores dark-olive in mass.

• Habitat

  Gregarious to clustered in moist, shaded gardens and plant nurseries; fruiting during the warmer months of the year; an introduced species; uncommon.

• Edibility

  Edible in the egg stage, but of inferior quality. One of us (mgw) has tried it and found both the texture and flavor very disagreeable.

• Comments

  This extraordinary stinkhorn looks more like a denizen of a tide pool than a fungus. With octopus-like arms, it appears to be lying in wait for an unwary visitor. The reality is less sinister, though not entirely pleasant either. The pinkish-red color and fetid odor presumably imitates decaying flesh, thus attracting flies. Like bees drawn to flowers, the flies unwittingly spread the species by picking up bits of the dark-olive spore-containing gleba. Clathrus archeri is native to Australia and Tasmania, apparently finding its way to California via bamboo nursery stock. Although a saprophyte and seemingly unspecific in substrate requirements, not just bamboo, it has not spread widely, and is known currently in California only from Santa Cruz and Monterey Counties. A close cousin, Clathrus ruber is found commonly in wood chips in urban areas. It is spectacular in its own right, producing a pinkish-red, hollow, basket-shaped structure, the interior lined with malodorous gleba

• References

  Arora, D. & Burk, W.R. (1982). Clathrus archeri, a Stinkhorn New to North America. Mycologia 74: 501-504.
  Calonge, Francisco D. (1998). Flora Mycologica Iberica. Vol. 3. Gasteromycetes, I. Lycoperdales, Nidulariales, Phallales, Sclerodermatales, Tulostomatales. J. Cramer: Berlin, Germany. 271 p.
  Dring, D. M. (1980). Contributions towards a rational arangement of the Clathraceae. Royal Botanic Gardens: Kew, Surrey, England. 96 p.
  Pegler, D. N., Læssøe, T. & Spooner, B. M. (1995). British Puffballs, Earthstars, and Stinkhorns. Royal Botanic Gardens: Kew, England. 255 p.

• Other Descriptions and Photos
  • Fred Stevens: Clathrus archeri (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Clathrus archeri (CP) -- Octopus Stinkhorn with "eggs" in bamboo duff
  • Michael Wood: Clathrus archeri (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Clathrus archeri (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Clathrus archeri (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Clathrus archeri (CP)
  • Michael Wood: Clathrus archeri (CP) -- Clathrus "egg" cut open the show interior
  • Na Grzyby: Clathrus archeri (CP)
  • Pilzegalerie: Clathrus archeri (CP)
  • Hidden Forest: Clathrus archeri (CP)
  • Société Mycologique de Strasbourg: Clathrus archeri (CP)
  • Arora (1986): p. 774 (D), pl. 197, 198 (CP)
  • Breitenbach & Kränzlin (v. 2): sp. 523 (D, I, & CP) [as Anthurus archeri]
  • Jordan: p. 366 (D & CP)
  
  

  (D=Description; I=Illustration; P=Photo; CP=Color Photo)