Wednesday, 31 October 2018

Autumn Bits and Pieces

 HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
 And some fungi...
 I think this is an ink cap.
 Not sure what this is. It was very delicate.
 These are my feet, with, hopefully no fungi!
A Stinkhorn, complete with flies. I couldn't smell it but I didn't get that close. The latin name is, unsurprisingly, Phallus Impudicus-which translates as 'Shamelessly Phallic.' It was named in 1753 by    Carl Linnaeus. Apparently, some Victorians, such as Charles Darwin's granddaughter Etty, would cudgel the fungi at dawn, to prevent impressionable young ladies being shocked at the sight of such a phallic object. Poor Stinkhorns!
I thought that this was a puffball, but having read all about Stinkhorns, I think this is the egg of one. Appropriately for Halloweeen, they are called Witch's Eggs! The mushroom bursts up through it overnight, and is soon covered with flies, who walk in the sticky green 'gleba' at the top, and spread the spores via their feet. 
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1 comment:

Linda Sue said...

so, stinkhorn, toxic I reckon- good only for potions? Good time of year for toxic potions, which set me to wondering what ever happened to all of the witches that were to bring down the orange evil? I guess they did not crone hard enough!

See you in January?

31 October 2018 at 16:37

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