DSC_2500 Anemone stinkhorn, or puapua-a-autahi (Aseroe rubra) recognizable for its foul faecal odour and pink/red arms (rarely yellow/white), that spread horizontally and are forked at the tips. The brown spore-carrying mucus at the base of the arms is smelly, attracting blowflies which disperse the spores. This fairly common fungus was the first native Australian fungus to be formally described. It is widely distributed in eastern Australia, and across the islands in the Pacific Ocean, including New Zealand, where it can sometimes be found in native forest as well as modified urban areas. Mount Cargill *
DSC_8926 Anemone stinkhorn, or puapua-a-autahi (Aseroe rubra) first appears above ground as a partly buried whitish egg-shaped structure (left). It bursts open (right) as a hollow white stalk with reddish arms that spread horizontally and are forked at the tips. Recognisable for its foul faecal odour, the smelly brown spore-carrying mucus at the base of the arms attracts blowflies, which disperse the spores. This fairly common Australian fungus (it was the first native Australian fungus to be formally described), is widely distributed in eastern Australia, and across the islands in the Pacific Ocean, including New Zealand. It is introduced in Britain and the USA. Leith Saddle, Dunedin *
DSC_0733 Anemone stinkhorn fungus, or puapua-a-autahi (Aseroe rubra) recognizable for its foul faecal odour, is visited here by a European blue bottle fly (Calliphora vicina). The brown spore-carrying mucus at the base of the stinkhorn's arms is smelly and attracts flies which disperse the spores. Stinkhorns bioaccumulate manganese, and this element is thought to help enzymes breakdown the spore-carrying mucus, while simultaneously forming the smelly attractant. Flagstaff, Dunedin *
