Lysurus mokusin

This is one of the Stinkhorn fungi. The fruit body (up to 15 centimetres tall) consists of a stem that ends in 4 or 5 short arms. The stem is up to 2 centimetres in diameter, white to reddish and has 4 or 5 strong, lengthwise ribs. There is a furrow between each pair of ribs, so that in cross-section the stem is polygonal. The arms are usually upright and close together (though occasionally they may spread a little). The arms bear a dark, smelly spore-lime that attracts the dung-loving or carrion-loving insects that act as spore-dispersers.  

The fruit bodies appear on the ground and this species is known from many countries. The original (and very detailed and well-illustrated) description of this fungus was based on a fungus found in China and was published in 1775 by Pierre-Martial Cibot, a Jesuit who had been born in France in 1727, arrived in Beijing in 1760 and died there 20 years later.

Look-alikes

The colours, strong ribs and short arms make this an unmistakeable species.