Pseudocolus fusiformis: The Stinky Squid

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by Ron Meyers

Finding this very small attractive stinkhorn at the Overland Park Arboretum southwest of Kansas City was both a surprise and probably a bit of good luck. The mushroom had not been previously reported from Kansas. After the first spotting we were delighted to find several pristine specimens growing in the immediate area, causing a notable expenditure of photographic film.

All of the specimens we observed had only three arms, still fused at the top. I was able to locate several eggs, which I took home and “hatched” in a pot of moist soil. While this usually provides me with the best photo op for stinkhorns (I can get there before the flies), none of my “hatched” squids had enough backbone to stand and pose for a picture. But one of them did have four arms.

Pseudocolus fusiformis has been known in North America since 1915, when it was reported in Pittsburgh. Since then it has spread through the mid-Atlantic states and now at least as far west as Kansas. Bessette, Bessette & Fischer (1997) describe it as inedible, but Arora (1986) says another armed stinkhorn, Clathrus archeri, is “nonpoisonous, and like most stinkhorns, edible in the egg stage.” He sampled two eggs, following a recipe for French-fried stinkhorn eggs. However, he neglected to strip away the gelatinous outer layer, resulting in a very unpleasant experience. Arora's story ought to discourage any attempt to eat the Stinky Squid, which I cannot imagine wanting to do anyway. Bessette is probably 100% correct.

Description:

Ecology: Saprobic; growing alone or in groups at the borders of woods, or in parks and gardens; common in various localities in eastern North America; summer and fall.

Fruiting Body: In the egg stage pale; jelly-like inside; with white rhizomorphs attached to the base. Later opening to produce a fruitbody 2.5-7 cm. high, consisting of 3-5 tapering arms that arise from a common stem; arms roughened, fused or free at the tips, whitish below and yellow to orange above; stem 2-4.5 cm long, 1.5-3 cm. thick, roughened, spongy, hollow; volva grayish brown to grayish or whitish, roughened above, wrinkled and tough; spore mass covering the inner side of the arms, olive-green to dark green, slimy, odorous, drying blackish.

Microscopic Features: Spores 4.5-5.5 x 2-2.5 µ; elliptical to egg-shaped; smooth.

REFERENCES: (Fischer, 1890) Lloyd, 1909. (Saccardo, 1891; Dring, 1980; Smith, Smith & Weber, 1981; Arora, 1986; Phillips, 1991/2005; Lincoff, 1992; Bessette, Miller, Bessette & Miller, 1995; Miller & Miller, 2006.)

Pseudocolus javanicus and Pseudocolus schellenbergiae are synonyms.

Clathrus columnatus is somewhat similar, but its arms do not arise from a shared stem, and the slime is only under the fused tips of arms.

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Meyers, R. (2004, March). Pseudocolus fusiformis: The stinky squid. Retrieved from the MushroomExpert.Com Web site: http://www.mushroomexpert.com/pseudocolus_fusiformis.html