The Stinkhorn Egg: What Is That Foul-Smelling Thing Growing in Your Garden?
Imagine stepping outside on a quiet morning, ready to tend to your garden, only to be stopped in your tracks by an overwhelmingly foul odor — something so putrid it catches in your chest and leaves a strange metallic taste on your tongue. You look down, and there in the grass sits something that looks almost alien: a pale, egg-shaped object wrapped in a semi-transparent membrane, with vivid pink or red structures beginning to emerge from within. What on earth is it?
What you are most likely looking at is a stinkhorn egg — the early developmental stage of a stinkhorn fungus, most commonly from the species Clathrus ruber (the latticed stinkhorn) or a close relative. While alarming in appearance and absolutely offensive to the nose, this strange garden visitor is more fascinating than dangerous. Here is everything you need to know about it.
What Exactly Is a Stinkhorn Egg?
Stinkhorn fungi begin their life cycle as subterranean, egg-like structures. These eggs are encased in a tough, rubbery outer skin called a peridium, beneath which the immature fruiting body develops. When conditions are right — typically after rain or in moist, warm soil — the egg splits open and the adult fungus expands rapidly, sometimes within just a few hours. The pink or red latticed or finger-like structures you see emerging from the cracked egg are the early stages of the fully formed fungus pushing its way out into the world.
Why Does It Smell So Terrible?
The stench is not accidental — it is a brilliantly evolved survival strategy. Once fully mature, stinkhorn fungi produce a dark, slimy substance called gleba on their surface, which carries the fungal spores. This gleba smells powerfully of rotting flesh, decay, or raw sewage. The odor is designed to attract flies, beetles, and other insects that feed on carrion. These insects land on the fungus, pick up the spores on their bodies, and carry them elsewhere, effectively dispersing the fungus across a wide area. Even at the egg stage, a faint but detectable odor can already be present, which explains why the smell can hit you before you even spot the source.
Is It Dangerous to Humans or Pets?
Here is the good news: stinkhorn fungi, including their eggs, are not toxic to humans. In fact, the eggs are considered edible in some parts of Europe and Asia, where they are occasionally sliced and eaten raw or cooked. However, the taste is as unpleasant as the smell, so culinary interest in them remains very limited. For pets — particularly cats and dogs — stinkhorns are generally considered non-toxic as well, though consuming large quantities of any wild fungus is inadvisable and a veterinarian should always be consulted if a pet has eaten one.
Where Do They Come From?
