A Very Creepy Mushroom...!

We all know that Mother Nature can come up with some strange looking plants, but this is one mushroom that is just plain creepy...at least to me!

Devil’s Fingers Mushroom

Photo credit: Fendy/Blogger

Clathrus archeri, better known as devil’s fingers or octopus stinkhorn, is a truly creepy mushroom. In its mature form, it has four to eight fingers as red as a fire engine with black spheres that resemble suction cups on an octopus’s tentacles. These black spheres are gleba, which emit a rancid smell reminiscent of rotting meat. This attracts flies, which disperse the plant’s spores. The smell explains the “stinkhorn” part of its name.

Like all stinkhorns, devil’s fingers start life in a white, partially buried, egg-like bulb. When it bursts from the bulb, the fingers are white and look like a corpse’s hand and sleeve rising from the grave. Eventually, the fingers stand erect, rising to 10 centimeters (4 in) in height and spreading out to 20 centimeters (8 in) in width. Although it is not toxic, its smell makes it inedible.

I really don't care what you call it, but I say again that this is one creepy mushroom. I want no part of it, thanks all the same. Thanks to Listverse for this nightmare.

Coffee out on the patio this morning. No rain in the forecast.