the alien-armed stinkhorn spreading through NZ

Size
Height: 5–10 cm
Lifespan
3–7 days
Diet
Saprotrophic. Feeds on decaying organic matter in gardens, mulch and wood chips. Emerges from white egg-like structure. Foul smell attracts flies that disperse spores effectively.
Habitat
Gardens, mulch, wood chips and disturbed ground. Prefers rich, organic soils. Requires moist, nutrient-rich environment for fruiting body development and spore dispersal.
Range
Throughout New Zealand in gardens, mulch and disturbed ground. Most common in North Island. Distribution follows availability of suitable organic substrate in modified habitats.
Endemism
Introduced
Main Threats
No significant conservation threats. Common and widespread. Not affected by habitat loss. Population stability is assured by ubiquity of suitable garden and urban environments.
Population
Populations considered stable and widespread. Common in gardens and mulch throughout New Zealand. Not considered threatened. No decline recorded in suitable modified environments.
Conservation Status
Not Threatened
The red flower fungus is a spectacular stinkhorn. It looks like a bright red starfish emerging from the ground. A fungus that smells like death. It begins life as a white, egg-like structure buried in mulch or leaf litter. Inside the egg, the fruiting body is compressed. It is folded like origami waiting to be opened. A flower that is not a flower. The potential is contained. The release is imminent. When the time is right, the egg bursts. Four to six bright red arms unfurl. These arms are covered in a dark, sticky, foul-smelling slime called gleba. The smell is like rotting meat or sewage. It is a powerful beacon. It can be detected from metres away. Flies are attracted to the stench. They land on the arms. They get the sticky spores stuck to their legs and mouths. Then they fly off to spread the fungus to new piles of mulch. A fungus that uses flies as delivery trucks. The strategy is effective. The scent is potent. The arms are connected at the top. They form a cage-like structure. They are spongy and hollow. Bright red on the inside. Paler on the outside. The whole fruiting body is five to ten centimetres tall. It lasts only a few days. Within a week, the arms collapse and melt away. They return their nutrients to the soil. The lifespan is brief. The impact is olfactory. The red flower fungus is common on wood chip mulch in gardens. Especially in the North Island. The smell alone is enough to deter anyone from taking a bite. It is not edible. The appearance is striking. The odour is repulsive. The combination is memorable. Also known as the octopus stinkhorn or devil's fingers. The garden mulch is fresh. The red flower fungus bursts from the white egg. Red arms unfurling. Stench of rotting meat. The flies come. They land. They spread the spores. The fungus does not know it is spectacular. It does not know it smells like death. It just wants to reproduce. Nature has a very strange sense of humour. The red flower fungus proves it. The arms are red. The slime is dark. The smell is strong. The flies are numerous. The decay is rapid. The cycle continues. It carries on. It does not seek admiration. It seeks dispersal. It finds it in the stench. And that seems to be enough.