fungi in Ohio? 5-31-99

[Eric Kasten]

Loyd812 <loyd812 at aol.com> wrote:
> Hi, I am trying to find what kind of fugi I have found
> found in mid Ohio today.   growing in a cedar mulch pile that surrounds a small
> tree.
> this specimen is about 3" in length, 3/8" in diameter... a white-ish pink base
> and dark red on the tip. the fungi is about the size and shape of the average
> little finger and comes to a point simular to a crayon. it also has a smell
> like a dead animal.   I would like some help as to how i can identify it, a
> location that may have photos.
>  In all my 30 plus years living here, I have never seen it before.

Sounds like what is often called a stink horn (haven't got the species
name handy at the moment).  A saprophitic mushroom that apparently 
likes to attract flies.  I usually get a few of these growing on some
of my beds of wood chips, although not usually on cedar mulch -- the
fact that the cedar isn't detering the growth of the fungi (or at least
its tendency to fruit) is in itself somewhat interesting. Are you sure 
it's cedar?

...Eric

-- 
Eric Kasten
kasten at nscl.msu.edu
National Superconducting Cyclotron Lab