Over the weekend an odd, pink, phallic mushroom covered in a green, smelly poo-slime started sprouting in my lavender bed. After a bit of research, Chef uncovered its name:
Dog stinkhorn Mutinus caninus
Nature produces an infinite variety of wondrous forms, elegant and grotesque. Some are even difficult to describe with polite language. The dog stinkhorn is one of these. Named for its remarkable resemblance to a canine penis, and possessing a truly rank odor, it seems engineered to offend the senses.
It smells something like mildew and ass (which mixes well with the lavender, I’ll tell you what), and research shows there’s no way of getting rid of it save for paving the entire yard, so we might as well enjoy it. Stinkhorn is the newest, greatest familial insult, and Chef goes around telling people we have “dog dick yard.” Fitting, since it looks like dog dick dipped in poo.
Geez oh man that ain’t cool. On any level. But thanks in particular for the vivid olfactory capture and visual associations. Mental weedwacker in effect. ;-)
Gross.
Our courtyard is filled with random mushrooms, but none like that. I would think that as long as y’all didn’t step on it, it should be okay.
Had to dig a little bit. I knew I remembered seeing this thing!
That really does look like a dog’s dick.