There is a smell that pervades the damp woods at this time of year. And those with keen noses are liable to stumble upon one of Nature’s naughty secrets.
One of the easiest fungi to recognise. The Stinkhorn: Photo 8 October 2018
Though it’s called a ‘stinkhorn’, I don’t find the smell at all offensive. For me, it’s redolent of the autumnal woodland.
Stinkhorn smothered in its stinky slime: Photo 8 October 2018
The stinkhorn uses the smell of its slime to attract flies which then, slimed-up, carry away its spores. This one thinks it’s Adam. But Adam had a fig leaf, not a flimsy fern.
Oops, embarrassing: Photo 8 October 2018
Easy to see with this flaccid specimen how spongelike the stinkhorn’s shaft. Well, if you’re going to mimic, you may as well mimic all the way.
Nature is nature; no intent to offend.
crispina kemp 
Well one cannot deny the obvious can one? We can consider it a priapic ornament of the forest.
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Mother Nature, always fertile. I thank you for daring a comment 🙂 🙂 🙂
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Anytime!!
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I am killing myself laughing here, Crispina! Mimic indeed… still chuckling…
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Well, you and Lynn asked for more fungi. And since I had so recently stumbled across these … but very difficult to post without playing with the double entendres.
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And why try? This is way more fun to read than some dry explanation… 😉
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I smile at your comment. 🙂 And I thought I’d kept it fairly straight. Except for the fern, and the flaccid one. And the spongy shaft. And I said nothing of wanting to help that head-hanging sad one to buck up. 🙂
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Buahahaha!!
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Well. Sort of.
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Uh huh. Yeah. If you say so…
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“I’m melting, I’m melting!”
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The photos are wonderful, but your commentary is even better! Poor flaccid mushrooms… 😉
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I thank you. I tried for a mix of factual and the slightly comedic, which seemed to suit the subject well. 🙂
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The comedy was perfect! And this is another mushroom that I’ve put into the Eneana world-building file. I can imagine what kind of magic the local herbalists think it might be appropriate for, ha ha!
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You might also note that, as a family, these are fungi that stink. To me it’s just the smell of damp woods, and things rotten, but I understand some of the species smell decidedly nasty. You could use that too. Like, the most potent ones, stink the worst. And, ho, the herbalist has to harvest it, and then the patient has to …. swallow it …
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Ha ha, I like that, very devious!
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