Mature Colus hirudinosus, stinkhorn fungus

Colus hirudinosus, a very rare basidiomycete mushroom of tropical origins closely related to the more famous and common Clathrus ruber. stinkhorn fungus Gasteromycete found in Asia, Australia, northern Africa, and southern Europe. The fruit body has a short, thick stalk that divides into several spongy, wrinkled, stalk-like, orange to red columns that are united at the top, thus forming a lattice. The spores are found within the gleba—a dark, olive-brown slime that coats the inside of the columns. Spores are spread by insects that are attracted by the fetid smell of the gleba, eat the spores, and pass them on to germinate elsewhere. Foggy forests are an ideal place for this fungus to grow

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