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I noticed a fungus in the yard yesterday that is new to me. Based on
Smith & Smith (1973, The Non-gilled Fleshy Fungi) it may be
_Phallogaster saccatus_ Morgan (listed in Gourley, 1983 as known in NS)
or a close relative. At a distance of about 20 paces from the colony, I
noticed an odor of ripe carrion and, wondering what had died and/or what
kind of rotting flesh I would find behind the woodpile (literally), my
nose led me to the most mature of the fruiting bodies.
Perhaps someone will be familiar with this fungus.
A brief description follows--
Fruiting body epigeous; lumpy globose to inverted drop shape (i.e.
the dorsal surface an irregular hemisphere with gradual taper to the
stipe-columella) and pale lavender to flesh colored when young, up to 5
cm high, 5 cm wide; stipe-columella firm, pale, about 5 mm wide at
junction with fruiting body and 5 mm long, tapering gradually to the
point of rhizomorph attachment; rhizomorph firm, pale to light brown,
thallose but highly branched and forming an extensive structure at least
7 cm deep; columella firm, gelatinous, translucent to almost
transparent, as a central strand 2-3 mm in diameter in the stipe region
that enlarges within the fruiting body to become an irregular, roughly
central structure 1-3 cm across with 6 to 8 thin radial partitions that
extend to the periderm; boundary between periderm, columella and gleba
sharp from button stage onward; periderm brittle, pale within, subject
to shallow cracking from early stages onward; fruiting body becoming
flattened at maturity and ruptured by shattering of dorsal peridium
into fragments 1-3 cm across; this shattering exposes the multiple
compartments of dark green slimy gleba; gleba with an odor of carrion in
addition to a sweet not-unpleasant odor; gleba attractive to flies;
periderm at this stage with about 8 shallow cracks per cm, often at
right angles, resulting in 4 to 5 sided dull pinkish brown islands of
outer periderm surrounded by thin canals of pale inner periderm; spores
colorless, cylindrical, with rounded ends, 1.8-2 X 5-6 microns.
Yours truly, Dave Webster, Kentville
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