Stinkhorns of the Hawaiian Islands - FUNGI Magazine

Stinkhorns of the
Hawaiian Islands

Don E. Hemmes1* and Dennis E. Desjardin2

Abstract: Additional members of the Phallales are recorded from Figure 1. Aseroë rubra is commonly encountered in Eucalyptus plantations
the Hawaiian Islands. Aseroë arachnoidea, Phallus atrovolvatus, and a in Hawai’i but these fruiting bodies are growing in wood chip mulch
Protubera sp. have been collected since the publication of the field surrounding landscape plants in a park.
guide Mushrooms of Hawaii in 2002.A complete list of species and
their distribution on the various islands is included. Figure 2. Aseroë arachnoidea forming fairy rings on a lawn in Hilo.
Island in 2006 (Fig. 1). Fruiting bodies with 6 to up to 10 arms
Key Words: Phallales, Aseroë, Phallus, Mutinus, Dictyophora, were noted. In 2007 a resident of Hilo called the University to
Pseudocolus, Protubera, Hawaii. inquire about some stinky growths on a newly established lawn.
After chasing away mounds of flies covering the fruiting bodies,
Roger Goos made the earliest comprehensive record of mem- we found a half dozen fairy rings of A.arachnoidea (Fig. 2), the first
bers of the Phallales in the Hawaiian Islands (Goos, 1970) and record of this species in Hawai’i.The underlying soil for this new
listed Anthurus javanicus (Penzig.) G. Cunn., Aseroë rubra Labill.: lawn had been delivered from a local source near town, so a best
Fr., Dictyophora indusiata (Vent.: Pers.) Desv., Linderiella columnata guess of how the fungus arrived would be in the grass seed, but it
(Bosc) G. Cunn., and Phallus rubicundus (Bosc) Fr. Later, Goos, is difficult to know exactly what conditions were present for the
along with Dring and Meeker, described the unique Clathrus spe- establishment of these fairy rings. No fruiting bodies were found
cies, C. oahuensis Dring (Dring et al., 1971) from the Koko Head on contiguous lawns.
Desert Botanical Gardens on Oahu. The records of Dictyophora
indusiata and Linderiella columnata in Goos’s paper actually came Mutinus spp. in Hawai’i include M. bambusinus and M. elegans.
from observations by N.A. Cobb in the early 1900’s (Cobb, 1906; The two species are easily differentiated as M. bambusinus has a
Cobb, 1909) who reported these two species in sugar cane fields distinct and abrupt demarcation between the red-colored upper
on Hawai’i Island (also known as the Big Island) and Kaua’i, re- half of the fruiting body, which is covered by the gleba, and white
spectively, and thought they might be parasitic on sugar cane.To to pinkish lower half (Fig. 3), whereas the orangish-red color in
our knowledge, neither Linderiella columnata (now known as M. elegans gradates from top to bottom (Fig. 4). Phallus rubicundus
Clathrus columnatus Bosc) nor Clathrus oahuensis has been seen in (Fig. 5) is especially common in woodchip compost at Ho’omaluhia
the islands since these early observations. In our surveys and in- Botanical Garden on Oahu and in community garden plots in
ventories studies of mushrooms of Hawai’i over the past 15 years,
we have frequently encountered Aseroë rubra and have collected FUNGI Volume 2:3 Summer 2009
Pseudocolus fusiformis (reported as Anthurus javanicus by Goos) and
Phallus rubicundus (Hemmes and Desjardin, 2002). In addition,
we have collected Aseroë arachnoidea E. Fisch., Phallus cinnabarinus
(Lee) Kreisel, Phallus multicolor Berk. & Broome, Phallus atrovolvatus
Kreisel & Colonge, Mutinus bambusinus (Zoll.) E. Fisch., Mutinus
elegans (Mont.) E. Fisch., and a species of Protubera.

By far the most commonly encountered stinkhorn in the is-
lands is Aseroë rubra, the “starfish stinkhorn.” Aseroë rubra has been
seen in Eucalyptus forests on all the major islands, but can also be
found in composted wood chips and other disturbed areas. Hun-
dreds of fruiting bodies were observed in composted woodchips
spread around landscaping trees at a park in Honoka’a on the Big

1. Biology Department, University of Hawai’i at Hilo, 200 W. Kawili
St., Hilo, HI 96720. 2. Department of Biology, San Francisco State
University, 1600 Holloway Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94132.
* Corresponding author: [email protected].

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Figure 3.The gleba has been washed off these fruiting bodies of Mutinus relatively short, lemon-yellow indusium, is much more restricted
bambusinus. in its distribution and has been found only at MacKenzie Park on
the Big Island, where it can be relatively common during rainy
ManoaValley on Oahu, and Pseudocolus fusiformis (Fig. 6), with its periods (Fig. 8). Netted stinkhorns have not been recorded from
wretched odor, like these other three species, is also found around any other Hawaiian island at this point.
agricultural areas and garden plots, in banana patches, and espe-
cially in well composted wood chip mulch. Both of these netted Phallus species may occasionally pro-
duce a fruiting body with a pure white indusium.A solitary fruit-
Phallus cinnabarinus (also known as Dictyophora cinnabarina Lee) ing body with a purely white indusium was observed in the midst
with its orangish-pink, cinnabar-colored indusium, appears on of a large grouping of Ph. cinnabarinus on a lawn in Hilo (Fig. 9).
lawns and in composted wood chip piles on the windward side of The indusium was fresh and turgid and had not faded to white.
the Big Island from MacKenzie Park to Honoka’a (Fig. 7). It is Phallus multicolor, too, may occasionally drop a near-white indu-
interesting that one lawn will be covered with fruiting bodies of sium (Fig. 10). In 2007 a large grouping of Phallus with white
Ph.cinnabarinus while at the same time contiguous lawns have none. indusia (Fig. 11) closely resembling Phallus atrovolvatus, a species
We surmise it may have to do with the source of the soil that was described from Costa Rica (Calonge et al., 2005), appeared at
brought in to start the lawn, the source of the grass seed, or the the University of Hawai’i at Hilo agricultural farm. These fruit-
type of fertilizer application. Phallus cinnabarinus is probably what ing bodies have a dark gray volva, a white indusium that expands
Cobb reported from Pepeekeo along the Hamakua Coast of to midway between the receptacle and volva, and have the habit
Hawai’i Island as Dictyophora indusiata in 1907 because he stated of growing in composted wood chips.The only noticeable differ-
those specimens had yellow indusia. Phallus multicolor, with its ence is that the surface of the unexpanded fruiting bodies of Ph.
atrovolvatus is described as black, whereas the fruiting bodies of
the Hawaiian specimens are gray.

Finally, a Protubera species was collected recently from Koke’e,
Kaua’i, in a mixed forest area containing Eucalyptus and Acacia
koa.The surface of this secotioid species is white and has a gelati-
nous, convoluted interior (Fig. 12). A summary list of phalloid
fungi currently known from the Hawaiian Islands and their known
distribution at this point is found in Table 1.

We have received photos of what resembles Lysurus mokusin
(L.:Pers.) Fr. from pastures surrounding Haleakala on Maui and a
red Clathrus from the NationalTropical Botanical Garden on Kaua’i
but the photos were of poor quality and no specimens were col-
lected for analysis. Our search for additional species of this inter-
esting group of fungi in the Hawaiian Islands continues.

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Figure 4. Mutinus elegans frequents well-manured agricultural areas.Figure 5.This fruiting body of Phallus rubicundus, and many more like it, appear
in senior-citizen gardens in ManoaValley on Oahu. Figure 6.The best description of the odor of Pseudocolus fusiformis is fresh pig manure. Figure 7.
Phallus cinnabarinus, with its elegant cinnabar-colored indusium, fruits on lawns and in wood chip piles on the windward side of Hawai’i Island.
Figure 8. Phallus multicolor at Mackenzie Park on Hawai’i Island.

FUNGI Volume 2:3 Summer 2009 9

Table 1

Genus/species Location
Aseroë arachnoidea H
Aseroë rubra
Clathrus columnatus H,K,L,Ma,Mo,O
Clathrus oahuensis K
Phallus atrovolvatus O
Phallus cinnabarinus H
Phallus multicolor H
Phallus rubricundus H
Mutinus bambusinus
Mutinus elegans H,O
Pseudocolus fusiformis H
Protubera sp. H
H,K
K

Figure 9.A fruiting body of Phallus cinnabarinus Figure 10. A fruiting body of Phallus Key: Hawai’i Island Ma = Maui
H= Kaua’i Mo = Moloka’i
K= Lana’i O = Oahu
L=

with a white indusium. multicolor with a near white indusium.

Figure 11. A newly found Phallus that closely resembles Phallus References Cited
(=Dictyophora) atrovolvatus described from Costa Rica. Note that the
white indusium on Dictyophora atrovolvatus extends to no more than Cobb, N. A. 1906. Fungus maladies of the sugar cane. Hawaiian Sugar
one-half of the length of the stipe. Planters’Association Experiment Station, Division of Pathology and
Physiology, Bulletin 5, 1–254.

Cobb, N.A.1909. Fungus maladies of the sugar cane. Hawaiian Sugar Plant-
ers’Association Experiment Station, Division of Pathology and Physi-
ology, Bulletin 6, 5–30.

Colonge, F. D., H. Kreisel, and M. Mata. 2005. Phallus atrovolvatus, a new
species from Costa Rica. Boletin de la Sociedad Micologica de Madrid 29:
5–8.

Dring, D. M., J. Meeker, and R. Goos. 1971. Clathrus oahuensis, a new
species from Hawaii. Mycologia 63: 893-897.

Goos, R. D. 1970. Phalloid fungi in Hawaii. Pacific Science 24: 282–87.

Hemmes, D. E., and D. E. Desjardin. 2002. Mushrooms of Hawaii.Ten
Speed Press, Berkeley, California, pp. 212.

Figure 12. A Protubera sp. from the Koke’e region of Kaua’i. FUNGI Volume 2:3 Summer 2009
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