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Ravenel's Stinkhorn
(Phallus ravenelii)

Ravenel's Stinkhorn
photo by "Wildman"

This less-than-appetizing, obscene-looking mushroom has a gray-black head 5/8 to 1-5/8 inches, wide, 1-1/4 to 1-3/4 inches high, long-oval shaped, with a small, white mouth at the tip. Its lower end is partially free from the stalk. The head is covered with olive-green slime, containing the spores.

Ravenel's Stinkhorn, Top
photo by "Wildman"

The yellowish-white cylindrical stalk is 4-6 inches long, 5/8 to 1-1/4 inches thick, ending an a sac like cup at the base, with white runners (the body of the fungus) extending into the ground. It usually falls over soon after it emerges.

Like other stinkhorns, it hatches from an egg-like sac.

Ravenel's Stinkhorn "Egg"
photo by "Wildman"

Layers of stinkhorn and slime lurk inside this "egg," unlike puffballs, which are smooth inside.

Ravenel's Stinkhorn "Egg," split lengthwise
photo by "Wildman"

Sniff it out throughout Eastern North America in the second half of the summer and in the fall. It grows in wood chips, sawdust, and around stumps, sometimes in great numbers.

Ravenel's Stinkhorns and "Egg" Infesting a Suburban Lawn
photo by "Wildman"

This putrid-smelling mushroom is not edible. The best thing to do with a Ravenel's stinkhorn is to return it to Ravenel!

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Ravenel's Stinkhorn (Phallus ravenelii)

Ravenel's Stinkhorn
(Phallus ravenelii)