Found 2 of these strange looking things growing under fir tree that has hosta planted under it. I thought the flat one was a critters tongue at first. Looked around other side of tree and there is this red/orange tube sticking up. Closer look it is growing out of part of my hosta. The white looking things appear to be more coming out (I first thought it was white stones)



first one I saw laying on rock that is why I thought it was a critter's tongue ripped out.

It's a Stinkhorn Fungus. Perhaps Elegant Stinkhorn (Mutinus elegans) but I'm not that familiar with the different species.

That looks like a species of Stinkhorn Fungus. This link shows common fungi for eastern Tennessee

http://www.easttennesseewildfl...


This link shows some outstanding members of the genus Phallaceae (stinkhorns)

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/...

I'm past 50 & first time I have ever seen anything like this. Thank you

You are most welcome... Mother Nature does indeed have a sense of humor

Yeah a real sense of humor - she made one in my tropical greenhouse 2 months ago .. kept wondering what had up and died in there til I finally went searching the stink was so bad. It was a real stop you in your tracks jaw dropper.

Wow, Anne, that one's really weird. I've never seen one like that.

Karen

Glad mine is outside, didn't get that close. "The tongue" spooked me, I was looking for the rest of the dead critter.

In my front garden there are Stinkhorns like the one in @Xeramtheum's photo. That area has a different type of wood mulch; could the wood itself be a host? or is it growing from the soil? or from as far as the roots of the tree which had been removed years ago?

It's the mulch .. after a little research when I discovered it I found it's not uncommon for them to appear in mulch that's kept damp. The floor of my gh is cypress mulch.

Linda, after seeing your last two picture it looked like a tongue to me too!

Yes its tree trimmer's mulch which I've used for "dirt/soil" abt. 30 years. I usually get white mushrooms. That bed is layered cypress & tree mulch. The flattened one has tiny bumps like a tongue!

Ahah, the city planted some oak trees and mulched around them with the chipped mulch and these tiny little fungi appears one day.
Don't know if you can tell from the photo, but the growth was over a foot tall.

greene said:In my front garden there are Stinkhorns like the one in @Xeramtheum's photo. That area has a different type of wood mulch; could the wood itself be a host? or is it growing from the soil? or from as far as the roots of the tree which had been removed years ago?

In answer to whether they come from wood mulch, soil or rotting tree roots, the answer is yes.

We have found them in all of those areas....and they do spread by spores in the breeze. We get the Clathrus columnatus species frequently here.

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/...