Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Mutinus Elegans

No, this is not an X-rated post. Just a true tale of garden infestation.
Mutinus Elegans, or Elegant Stinkhorns, are a family of mushrooms which produce a foul-scented, phallus-shaped mushroom. Their method of reproduction is different than most mushrooms, which use the air to spread their spores. Stinkhorns instead produce a sticky spore mass on their tip which has an odor of carrion, dung, or other things that attract flies. The flies land on the stinkhorn and in doing so collect the spore mass on their legs and carry it to other locations.


I woke up one morning and found these....THINGS....in my front garden. Two, to be precise. Odd looking things. My first thought was that they were alien penises (naturally). After some research, I found the definition above. The next morning, I found 8 more. The morning after that, 12. They multiply like bunnies!
They freak me out. I'm having nightmares about the infestation. And Mike's apathetic attitude towards them is a little more than frustrating. So one day a week or so ago, I take to the garden with my shovel and several lawn and leaf bags. Death to the 20+ stinkhorns and the 50 of their eggs that I collected!
We were stinkhorn free for almost a full week. But sadly, they are back. And so my battle wages on...

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