Your Garden: Stinkhorn fungus has most accurate name ever

Dear Roger: What is this? - Lauren

Dear Lauren: That's a stinkhorn fungus.

Stinkhorns are related to puffballs and earthstars. But they smell worse.

You are fortunate to have them. They help break down mulches and improve your soil. If they are near your house, however, they may be intolerable. The simplest solution is to move the mulch until it has finished hosting those orange stinkers.

Stinkhorn fungi start out as white, small "eggs" in mulch or other damp, decomposing material. They are particularly profuse in wood chip mulches. Most of this fungal structure is underground. When enough water is available, the "eggs" will rupture and the mature mushroom (the "stinkhorn") will emerge.

Depending on type, stinkhorns are stalk-like, like yours, globular, or latticed. The ones in my garden tend to be arches with two or three supports arising from the ground and attached at the top.

Stinkhorns are usually orange to pinkish orange. A few are white or pink.

Stinkhorns produce a putrid, rotting meat smell. The smell attracts ants and flies that help spread the spores.

Stinkhorns are helpful. As a fungus, stinkhorns break down organic matter. This is especially helpful for landscapes and gardens in our naturally sandy and nutrient poor soils. In your garden, stinkhorns break down materials such as mulch and make those nutrients available for plants.

Stinkhorns do not harm landscape plants or grasses.

Stinkhorns are seasonal. They usually appear for a few weeks only once or twice a year, and especially during wet, cool weather.

While stinkhorns do occur naturally, they also can be introduced to an area through mulch materials.

Send your questions to roger@mercergarden.com or call 424-4756. You may write Roger at 6215 Maude St., Fayetteville, NC 28306. Include your telephone number.

How to cope

There are no registered or safe products for use on stinkhorn fungus, and using chemicals is not practical. Here are a few methods to deal with stinkhorns in your landscape:

Replace decaying organic matter, especially sawdust piles, dead roots, underground stumps and hardwood chip mulch. Put them far from areas you visit until they have broken down more thoroughly.

Consider using vegetative groundcovers while your stinkhorn-infested mulch is breaking down.

Handpick stinkhorns in the "egg" stage, put them in a zipper freezer bag, and throw them away.

Tolerate them. Stinkhorns are beneficial for your soil.