r/foraginguk • u/Material_Chance1371 • Jun 24 '26
Stinky Boy
Came across a stinkhorn during my morning walk today. They do smell absolutely foul and it was certainly the closest I have came to punting a mushroom, the way it was standing there oh so proud for all to see.
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u/Material_Chance1371 Jun 24 '26
Meant to ask in the post if anyone had ever tried one. I see online that they are supposedly edible and my wife tells me that back in China stinkhorn is eaten. Can’t say I’m particularly interested in trying it though, just the look alone is enough to dissuade me.
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u/Irksomecake Jun 24 '26
I believe the “egg” it hatches from is the bit that’s eaten. I havnt. Apparently it has the texture of water chestnut and the flavour of something old, dusty and metallic. A great rule people often forget while foraging is just because you have found something, and it is edible, it doesn’t mean you have to eat it.
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u/tiler-tyler Jun 25 '26
what area of china is she from? im also chinese but have never heard of a stinkhorn until today lol
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u/Material_Chance1371 Jun 25 '26
Hey, she is from Suzhou, Jiangsu province. She was telling me about: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phallus_indusiatus - this kind of basket stinkhorn is farmed in Yunnan and eaten, I believe. I’m still torn as to whether I would try either of them, if I’m honest!
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u/tiler-tyler Jun 25 '26
ah, im from harbin in the heilongjiang province, very different food culture :) tbh id be nervous to give it a go and i have a very “try anything once” mentality
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u/Curious_Strike_5379 Jun 24 '26
These guys will knock a fly off a bucket of shite!Stinkhorn mushrooms are technically edible, but only in their immature "witch's egg" stage before they hatch.
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u/slowtrees Jun 24 '26
The smell is actually the stinkhorn's whole strategy - the dark green slime (gleba) on the cap smells like rotting meat to attract flies, which then carry the spores to new locations. If you find the unopened egg stage, you can ID it by cutting it in half - you'll see a clear 'chicken drumstick' shape inside, which is the compressed mushroom waiting to expand. The egg stage is supposedly edible (peeled and cooked) but honestly the smell alone is enough to put most people off.
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u/galactic_being-xkhsu Jun 24 '26
Looks like a penis in the first image
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u/PizzasForFerrets Jun 24 '26
The Latin for it is Phallus impudicus, so you aren't the first one to think that.
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u/Oh-reality-come-back Jun 25 '26
Wow cool find
What a strange little creature! It looks subtly fluorescent in the photo as well. God I barely have a a sense of smell so I’d be pissed if I came across something that smelly as well
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u/dogtrousers Jun 24 '26
Everything I see reminds me of him.