Starfish, Anemone, Stinkhorn, or just plain Disgusting Red, Fungus

I've noticed outbreaks on Facebook of the Starfish Fungus, Sea Anemone Fungus, Anemone Fungus, Stinkhorn, or as mycologists (fungal folk) like to call it, Aseroe rubra.

Bewildered fans of Sydney's Royal Botanic Gardens and Centennial Parklands pages have snapped this rather odd looking creature from parks and gardens around Sydney.

I used to think of it as a rare alpine fungus, which seemed to be it its profile in Victoria, but in New South Wales it pops up all over the place. I've spotted it a couple of times amongst some woodchips in my own garden.

The scientific name Aseroe rubra, translates as ‘disgusting red’, which is about right. Its common names also do a good job of describing it. This fungus is like a large, land, sea anemone with outstretched red tentacles and an evil-smelling brown-green slime in the centre. It all emerges from an innocuous looking egg-like structure.

The unpleasant odour, like rotting meat, is to attract flies which will then spread the spores. You may remember our Titan Arum (Amorphophallus titanum) which produces similar evil smells to attract flies, in this case to cross-pollinate the giant flowers, and my blog about how fungi can produced similar off smells in other flowers.

It seems that our Starfish Fungus will grow in pretty much any rich humic soil, in a sheltered spot. In Victoria, as I said, it occurs almost exclusively in alpine areas, but in Tasmania it grows in lowland sites close to the coast (and perhaps also the mountains?). It's also known from New Zealand and New Caledonia.

Around Sydney (and in odd places around the world - see below), it pops out of wood chip mulch. The fungal hyphae are apparently growing in the wood.

Aseroe rubra was the first species of fungus to be collected and described from Australia. Jacques Labillardière, a member of the D'Entrecasteaux expedition, collected the specimen on 1 May 1792 at Recherche Bay in southern Tasmania and published an account of it in 1800.

In 1829 the species was already growing in a glasshouse at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, in London, on soil imported from Australia. A very opportunistic fungus.

Images: I copied these from various places on the web a couple of years ago so sorry and thanks to those who took and displayed them.