New Zealand Fungi

DSC_1891 White basket stinkhorn (Ileodictyon cibarius) starts as an egg from which the growing fruit-body bursts free and unfolds. The inside of the lattice-work of the basket is covered in brown spore mass, and smells of rotting meat, attracting blowflies which feed on the liquid and disperse the spores. The basket can also roll free from the egg and blow across the ground dispersing spores. Dunedin *

DSC1891WhitebasketfungusstinkhornIleodictyoncibariusfruitbodylatticeworkDunedin