Mutinus caninus (Huds.) Fr.
Family: Phallaceae
Dog Stinkhorn
Mutinus caninus image
National Mushroom Centre  
Mata, M., D. Penjor and S. Pradham. 2010. Fungi of Bhutan. National Mushroom Centre, Ministry of Agriculture and Forests, Thimphu, Bhutan.

Local name: No local name known

Edibility: Edible when young in the egg stage.

Habitat: Solitary to gregarious and terrestrial.

Description: Immature Fruiting Bodies: Usually at least partially submerged in the ground, appearing like a whitish to pinkish or purplish "egg" up to 4 cm tall, when sliced revealing the stinkhorn-to-be encased in a gelatinous substance. Mature Fruiting Bodies: 4-15 cm tall and up  to 1 cm wide, more or less equal, with a slightly swollen apex, sometimes whitish below with pinkish rose to orange or orange red above, rarely completely white even at the apex, often with clinging whitish volva remnants, with an olive brown to brown slime towards the apex (covering 2-3 cm, the slime quickly becoming foul, and often quickly removed by insects, hollow, spongy, with a whitish, sack like volva at the base.

Comments: Plallus rubicundus is very similar in appearance, but has a distinct head that hangs skirt-like from the tip of the stem.