A rare mushroom that smells like rotting flesh has been discovered again in Britain for the first time in twenty years. However, it was spotted last week by an Avon Wildlife Trust conservation team at the Dolebury Warren nature reserve on the Mendip Hills, Bristol. It first forms into a partially buried 'egg' made up of between four and seven elongated, slender arms. The mushroom species is native to New Zealand and Australia and made its way over to Europe around 105 years ago. 'Related to the stinkhorns, it smells of rotting flesh, which attract insects to the sticky substance on the octopus arms where the spores are found - the spores are then spread by the visiting insects.'

Source: Daily Mail November 05, 2019 20:00 UTC