Devil's Fingers

Description

Devil's fingers is one of the most unusual fungi in Polish forests and gardens. The young fruiting body looks like a whitish-grey egg the size of a hen's egg, partly sunk in the ground. After it ruptures, 4–8 coral-red arms grow out and spread like octopus tentacles or a star. On the inside they are covered with a dark, slimy, foul-smelling mass of spores; the smell resembles carrion and attracts flies.

It comes from Australia and New Zealand and reached Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. In Poland it grows from July to October, mainly in the south of the country, in young forests and thickets on fertile, moist soil, and also in parks and gardens, often on bark mulch. It is rare but increasingly encountered. A single fruiting body lasts only a day or two.

It is hard to mistake for anything else. The red cage fungus forms a closed lattice, not free arms. Devil's fingers is not suitable for eating: in a mature fruiting body the smell alone is off-putting.

Identification features

Cap

No cap. The fruiting body develops from an egg 3–6 cm tall and 2.5–5 cm across, ovoid, conical or pear-shaped, whitish-grey, partly sunk in the substrate, with thread-like mycelial cords at the base. From the ruptured egg the receptacle emerges, reaching 5–15 cm in height and splitting into 4–8 arms. The arms, up to about 10 cm long, curve outward, giving the fruiting body a starfish or octopus shape. The outer surface of the arms is coral-red to pinkish-red, reticulate and pitted. The fruiting body usually lasts one to two days.

Hymenophore (underside of the cap)

No gills or tubes in the typical sense. The inner (upper) surface of the arms is covered with an intense cherry-red layer, bearing a slimy, dark olive-green-brown gleba with spores, which dries out and turns black with age. In cross-section of an arm, 2–3 tubes and two wide cavities (globifers) are visible.

Stem

No distinct stem. The lower, unsplit part of the receptacle is 2–9 cm tall and 2–5 cm wide, whitish or whitish-grey, and porous. There is no ring; the base is surrounded by the remnant of the egg's outer envelope.

Flesh

Spongy, porous, surrounded by a gelatinous layer in the egg. The mature gleba gives off a strong, unpleasant smell of carrion, similar to that of the common stinkhorn. The flesh should not be tasted.

Spore print and spores

Spores are contained in the slimy gleba, colourless (hyaline), narrowly ellipsoid, smooth, about 3.5–7.5 × 1.5–2.5 µm (descriptions give different ranges). A spore print in the classical sense does not occur.

Habitat and distribution

Ecology. Saprotroph decomposing dead organic matter: grows on leaf litter, compost, bark mulch and wood. Prefers acidic and humid soils, avoids calcareous ones. In Poland it is found in young forests and thickets on fertile, well-manured soils, under silver birch, Scots pine and aspen, and also in grasslands of tufted hair-grass and wavy hair-grass. Spores are spread by flies and other insects (including from the families Calliphoridae, Muscidae, Sarcophagidae), attracted by the smell; they eat the gleba and the spores are excreted.

Distribution. The native range is disputed: Australia with Tasmania and New Zealand are most often indicated, with the islands of the Malay Archipelago, Mauritius and south-eastern Africa also possible. The species has spread to Asia, both Americas and Europe, where it was first recorded in 1914 in France; it was probably introduced with soil and plants or goods from Australia. In Europe it has been found in, among others, Great Britain, Belgium, Austria, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Czechia, Croatia, Slovenia, Romania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Ukraine. In Poland the first site was recorded in 1975 near Biłgoraj (Wólka). By 2014 nearly 100 sites were known, mainly in the south of the country (the Sudetes and their foreland, the Carpathians, the south-eastern uplands); in the Tatras it was found in 2012. It has not been recorded in the north-east, and only isolated sites exist in the north-west. An invasive species, still rare in Poland but spreading. It is not legally protected in Poland.

Fruiting. In Poland from July to October.

What can it be confused with?

• Aseroe rubra — Smaller; the gleba occupies only the central part of the fruiting body, not the arms. The arms are forked, not thick.
• Clathrus ruber (red cage fungus) — The fruiting body forms a closed, spherical lattice of red arms fused at the tips, not free arms spreading like a star.

Never rely on a single feature. If you are not sure — do not pick it; show the mushroom to a qualified mushroom expert.

Interesting facts

• In 1975 villagers near Biłgoraj, where the species was first recorded in Poland, took its white "eggs" for snake eggs.
• It was first recorded in Europe in 1914 in France; it was probably brought in with soil and plants from Australia or with goods from that continent.
• The carrion smell attracts flies, which eat the slimy gleba and spread the spores; some flowering plants have a similar pollination strategy.
• The English names are "devil's fingers" and "octopus stinkhorn".