In September 2004, Christine Feltwell discovered an unusual fungus in her Bentley garden vegetable plot. Curious about its identity, she took a photograph of the specimen to a friend and neighbour who was able to find a matching picture in a guide to fungi. Unfortunately, the fungal fruiting body was past its best when the photograph was taken, but it was still easily recognisable as the stinkhorn Anthurus archeri.
A. archeri is widely established in various European countries but is, according to Pacioni, a rare introduction in Britain. Named after Archer, the Irishman, who collected fungi in Tasmania, the species needs a substrate of rotting ligneous fragments for its saprophytic way of life. Its normal habitat is the decaying leaf litter of broadleaved woodland. Decaying leaf mould, like that dug into Christine’s garden provided an ideal source of nutrient for the fungus.
The fruiting body of A. archeri resembles a puffball when it first emerges. However, when Christine discovered the fungus, it had already ‘opened’ into a four-armed spore-bearing structure, each arm tapered and pinkish-red, with dark greenish-black, mucilaginous sporing tissue on its inner surface.
‘Opened’ fruiting bodies of the fungus may have from four to seven arms. The coloured illustration in Pacioni shows a five-armed specimen, downward curved arms radiating starfish-like from a central point. Like our own stinkhorn Phallus impudicus, dissemination is by flies, which feed on the slimy, foetid spore mass.
I thank Christine Feltwell for bringing her discovery to my attention and allowing me to confirm its identity.
Pacioni, G. 1985. The Macdonald Encyclopaedia of Mushrooms and Toadstools (English translation). Macdonald & Co. London.
Colin Hawes,
3 Silver Leys, Bentley IP9
2BS
© 2004 Suffolk Naturalists' Society
used by kind permision.