ASEROE RUBRA COLLECTED IN CENTRAL GEORGIA, USA

John F. Kraus Ph.D.
1211 Timberlane Drive
Macon, Georgia 31210

Keywords: Starfish Stinkhorn, Flower Fungus, Anemone Fungus

INTRODUCTION

On May 13, 2003 while working in the yard the author spotted an unusual brightly colored mushroom at the base of an old rotting hardwood brushpile. After taking several photographs and not finding it in his personal mushroom book he attempted to get it identified. A friend, Chris Bryson, who had seen a photograph identified it as the Starfish Stinkhorn, Aseroe rubra Labill.: Fr. (Clathraceae) (Fig. 1) by doing a web search.

A second specimen, found on May 28th but not as fully developed as the first, was collected, dried and sent to the University of Georgia Museum of Natural History (GAM #16111) along with photographs of the one found earlier. A third specimen was found on June 7th but it was very small, almost overlooked and neither photographed nor collected. In 2004 a small specimen was found on May 21st, two more on June 8th and a fourth, nicely developed specimen, on June 28th.

Dr. Richard T. Hanlin, Curator Emeritus of the Museum of Natural History, University of Georgia informed the author that A. rubra had not been previously collected in Georgia, or the U.S. mainland. It is native to Australia and New Zealand; and has been found in Hawaii, England, Brazil and Costa Rica.

DESCRIPTION

A. rubra is a phalloid fungus in the ornate stinkhorn family, (Clathraceae). The basidiospores germinate and grow into an egg shaped mass covered by a relatively tough peridium with root like hypha growing from its base. Upon maturity the fruiting body pushes through the upper end of the outer covering. A narrowly funnel shaped white stipe (Fig. 2) which may be 8cm long extends and then flattens out and expands into a pileus with from five to ten arms each ending in two slender filaments. The pileus and arms are about 8cm in diameter and bright red spattered with black gleba. There is a circular opening in the center of the pileus into the stipe from which a putrid odor is emitted resembling rotting meat. This odor attracts flies, which feed on the gleba and disperse the basidiospores. The specimens being reported on were attracting the House Fly (Musa domestica) and a Green Bottle Fly (Phaenicia spp.).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The assistance of Dr. Richard T. Hanlin is gratefully acknowledged. My thanks also to the many mycologists who responded to my E-mail inquires about A. rubra.