Mutinus borneensis
This is a classical stink-horn because it looks like a horn.
The spore is contained in the dark green slime or gleba, which smells terrible to humans but delectable to flies. The spores are spread by the visiting flies.
Many of the Mutinus group have red in the shaft, at least near the tip. This white shaft with a light orange tip fits M borneensis. It is also on the Australian fungi list.
On the background log are Favolacia calocera, the very common orange fungus. These were rather small ones, so do not over-estimate the size of the stinkhorn!
This specimen was in Pirongia Forest Park, May 2005
Anaglyph (remember: anaglyph colours are not correct, although this one is very close.)
Some say it can be eaten - usually they only mean the eggs. However, take warning:
http://hvbackyard.blogspot.com/2007/01/5-strange-stinkhorns.html
While this might be an interesting type of fungus, I am writing to let pet owners, that if ingested by small dogs or cats can cause death. We started getting these growing in mulch we put down, i thought they were really different looking and tried to find them on the internet by giving a description, but found no information. Last week my mini dachshund ingested some, unknown to me at first, became ill, spent 5 hours in emergency care and then passed away. Apparently the spore mush on top smells like rotting meat or dog feces which attracts some dogs and cats. Our vet was not even aware of its deadliness. I put in my dogs symptoms and medical information and the stinkhorn fungi picture came up, exactly the ones we have in our yard. So while i don't mean to put a damper on the blog, i just want pet owners not to suffer the same loss i have had to endure. please post this and thank you very much for your consideration.
The meaning of Mutunus is explained here, but you need to be over 16:
http://pediaview.com/openpedia/Mutunus_Tutunus
Bornean means of Borneo, where the fungus was first described.
