''Phallus duplicatus'' (common name, netted stinkhorn or wood witch) is a species of

fungus A fungus ( : fungi or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as a kingdom, separately from t ...

in the

stinkhorn Phallaceae is a family of fungi, commonly known as stinkhorns, within the order Phallales. Stinkhorns have a worldwide distribution, but are especially prevalent in tropical regions. They are known for their foul-smelling, sticky spore masses, ...

family. The bell-shaped to oval

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

is green-brown, the cylindrical stalk is white. When mature the cap becomes sticky with a slimy green coating that attracts flies that disperse its spores, and it has a distinct, "netted"

universal veil In mycology, a universal veil is a temporary membranous tissue that fully envelops immature fruiting bodies of certain gilled mushrooms. The developing Caesar's mushroom (''Amanita caesarea''), for example, which may resemble a small white sphe ...

. The fungus is edible when still in the "egg" stage, before the fruit body has expanded. It grows often in public lawns, and can also be found in meadows.

Taxonomy

The species was first described in 1811 by French botanist Louis Bosc. Synonyms include ''Dictyophora duplicata'' and ''Hymenophallus duplicatus''. It is commonly known as the netted stinkhorn or the wood witch.

Description

Immature fruit bodies are roughly spherical, whitish to pink in color, and have thick rhizomorphs at the base. Fully grown and matured, the fruit body is cylindrical and up to tall. A bell-shaped to oval

is at the top of the stalk, which measures and wide. Its surface is covered with chambers and pits, and there is a perforation at the tip with a white rim. A white, lacy, skirt-like veil, or ''indusium'', hangs below the cap. The cap is initially covered with a foetid greenish slime, the

gleba Gleba (, from Latin ''glaeba, glēba'', "lump") is the fleshy spore-bearing inner mass of certain fungi such as the puffball or stinkhorn. The gleba is a solid mass of spores, generated within an enclosed area within the sporocarp. The contin ...

. Spores are cylindrical, hyaline (translucent), smooth, and measure 3.5–4.2 by 1–1.5 μm. Fruit bodies are

edible An edible item is any item that is safe for humans to eat. "Edible" is differentiated from "eatable" because it does not indicate how an item tastes, only whether it is fit to be eaten. Nonpoisonous items found in nature – such as some mushroo ...

when still in the "egg" stage. The species resembles '' Phallus indusiatus'', but that species has a longer indusium and smaller spores.

Habitat and distribution

''Phallus duplicatus'' is a

saprobic Saprotrophic nutrition or lysotrophic nutrition is a process of chemoheterotrophic extracellular digestion involved in the processing of decayed (dead or waste) organic matter. It occurs in saprotrophs, and is most often associated with fungi ( ...

species, and fruit bodies grow singly or in small groups on the ground in woods, gardens, and landscaped areas. The smelly gleba coating the cap attracts flies and other insects that consume it and help to disperse the spores. It is known from Asia (China and Japan), eastern North America, and South America (Brazil). The species was featured in a

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

an postage stamp in 1986. Although it has been widely recorded from Europe, some of these may be misidentifications with the similar ''

Phallus impudicus ''Phallus impudicus'', known colloquially as the common stinkhorn, is a widespread fungus in the Phallaceae (stinkhorn) family. It is recognizable for its foul odor and its phallic shape when mature, the latter feature giving rise to several ...

'' var. ''togatus''. ''Phallus duplicatus'' is Red Listed in the Ukraine.

References

External links

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Phallus duplicatus
' a
Mushroom Expert
{{Taxonbar, from=Q4418036 Phallales Fungi of Europe Fungi of North America Fungi of South America Fungi described in 1811 Taxa named by Louis Augustin Guillaume Bosc