Phallus impudicus - common stinkhorn
In the (witches) egg and full grown stages.
The spores on these are actually spread via the top of the cap - flies will land on the sticky and smelly ‘gleba’ (I hate this word 😆), and distribute the spores within it, after some time the gleba will be totally gone thanks to insects.
I just love that this weird fungi is edible too - it’s not a common eat, but when it is, most usually the white center of the young ‘eggs’ is separated and eaten (raw too!) - this tastes somewhat like radish to me! Though yesterday I tried sampling the entirety of the egg - the texture of the jelly and young gleba leaves something to be desired, but I reckon some salt could help 😁 I also had a munch on the stipe of the fully formed Phallus. This again was quite radishy with a persistent flavour, though the texture was rather like a crunchy loofah. An acquired taste for sure.
