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White common stinkhorn with dark olive tip
Not a food mushroombeginner-friendly group

Common Stinkhorn

Phallus impudicus

A white spongy stalk topped with foul-smelling olive slime that hatches from a buried egg and attracts flies.

Photo: arthur_haendler, CC BY
Compiled by Mushroom Forage Map field deskExpert review pendingContent checked
Identification warning

Its egg stage can resemble a deadly Amanita egg. Cut any egg-like mushroom vertically.

Season
Summer to autumn
Habitat
Woodland and gardens with buried wood
Underside
No gills or pores; spores are in olive slime on the cap
Spore evidence
Olive (spore slime)

Where it grows

Tracked records and known growing zone

Explore on the field map
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Squares: where people recorded it, brighter where more people did
Verified records
9,111
People who recorded it
5,435
Most records (northern hemisphere)
Jul–Oct
Records span
1968–2026

Research-grade iNaturalist records, snapshot Aug 27, 2026. The growing zone combines areas where different people have repeatedly verified it. Records show where people looked and found it, not current abundance or permission to gather.

Observation season

When field records occur

Choose a hemisphere · All recorded years; not a current forecast.

Choose the hemisphere you want to study. Country detection is approximate and some countries span the equator.

Compare before concluding

Lookalikes to rule out

Death Cap

deadly

Amanita eggs show a cap and gills in outline when cut; stinkhorn eggs show jelly and a spongy core.

Dog stinkhorn

harmless

Mutinus caninus is slender with an orange tip.

Puffballs

caution

Puffballs have uniform white flesh inside, without jelly.

Identification

It starts as a white, soft egg half buried in soil. Cut open, the egg shows a jelly layer around a developing stalk. The stalk bursts out in hours, white and spongy, topped by a cap covered in dark olive, foul-smelling slime.

Uses and ecology

Flies spread stinkhorn spores after feeding on the slime. The smell can be detected many meters away. Stinkhorns decompose buried wood.

Memorable fact

The stalk can emerge from the egg in a few hours.

Sources

Never eat a mushroom from this page alone

Confirm identity using the whole specimen, multiple reputable sources, and a qualified local expert. Identified edible species still require appropriate preparation. Cooking does not make a poisonous mushroom safe.

Safety and poison response
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