Names, authorship and dates from Index Fungorum.

• BasidiomycotaPhylum
• └─ AgaricomycetesClass
• └─ PhallalesOrder
• └─ PhallaceaeFamily
• └─ ClathrusGenus

Higher ranks from Catalogue of Life (COL26.9 XR).

Lifestylesaprobiont

Gardens, wood-chip mulch and disturbed ground, also broadleaf woodland

⚠ Before you pickWild fungi may be taken in small quantities for your own use (§39(3) BNatSchG) — but not in nature reserves or national parks, on closed land or on farmland in use, and never for sale (§39(4)). In Bavaria this right is anchored in Art. 141(3) of the state constitution and is limited to locally customary amounts; the competent authority is the district nature-conservation authority (untere Naturschutzbehörde). Local signs and ordinances come first.

Species protection from BArtSchV Annex 1 and §2(1), retrieved 2026-10-15; Red List from Dämmrich et al. (2016) (BfN / Rote-Liste-Zentrum). Not legal advice — local rules and signage may be stricter. BArtSchV Annex 1 · Red List data

• inedible mushroom

Inedible — foul smell

• ▸ Starts as a whitish, leathery 'egg' at the base
• ▸ Opens into 4–6 (rarely 8) bright red, tentacle-like arms
• ▸ Inner surfaces covered with a dark, olive-brown spore mass (gleba)
• ▸ Strong smell of rotting flesh

Originally from Australasia, now a widespread invasive species across Europe; the odour attracts flies that disperse the spores.