After making its first ever recorded Melbourne appearance in the Forest Gallery in 2008, our resident Stinkhorn has reappeared.
From a group of Fungi known as the Stinkhorns, the Stinky Squid (Pseudocolus fusiform) has the dubious quality of attracting flies to spread its spores by emanating the smell of "rotting fish" or "blocked sewerage pipes". Like all fungi, they are here one day gone the next. At the moment look for them at the end of the Earth Section in the Forest Gallery.
Starting out as a typical egg shaped mushroom, the fruiting body then erupts within a couple of days, armed with the precious brown slime which contains its reproductive spores.
Pseudocolus fusiform commonly known as Stinky Squid is fruiting now in the Forest Gallery. Photo: Andrew Kuhlmann Source: Museum Victoria e3b1c2cc-4f04-4029-84f6-4ae15d513f40|1|4.0