Smelly and Weird Stinkhorn Mushrooms in the Garden

I did write about the unusual looking stinkhorn fungi in the past. Suddenly I am seeing lots of them in one particular area of the vegetable garden. You can’t help but be curious about this smelly and weird looking mushroom.

Yes, they smell, but I don’t find them to be overpowering. I began seeing them pop up about a month ago – in November. They seem to be confined to one area.

To begin with, they look like a round white ball that is mostly buried. Then they expand and become a bizarre, open-sided orange thing.

They are growing alongside flowers and bean plants, eggplant, dill, and broccoli. I was hoping they were not “bad”. I couldn’t remember from the last time I investigated.

I have rediscovered that they are not bad to have growing in the garden.

According to the IFAS site, they are pink to orange colored here in Florida. Stinkhorns break down material, such as mulch, to make it easier for plants to use. This fungus is helpful, as most are. They are visible for a short time, once or twice a year in Florida.

More About the Stinkhorn Fungi

Don’t worry if you have these orange things in your yard. They won’t last, and they don’t smell that bad – especially from a distance. This fungi is working to help the ecology of the location, so let it do it’s thing!

• Lattice Stinkhorn Mushrooms article.
• Ask IFAS – Florida
• Mushroom Expert
• Woodland Trust – UK

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