The real reason for this ‘creepy’ mystery in woman's garden

 “Scares the heck out of me,” someone posted under the image.

Photos of an unusual and rather ‘creepy’ sight in a woman’s backyard did the rounds on Facebook and Reddit this week, with many people questioning what on earth was in the image.

Looking like deathly grey-coloured toes or fingers emerging from the ground, these ‘digits’ were not in fact human or animal (thank goodness), rather they were an inedible parasitic fungi called Xylaria polymorpha, commonly known as dead man's fingers.

The creepy mushrooms which gave a lot of internet users a fright, usually grow from the bases of rotting tree stumps and decaying wood which considering their name, seems appropriate.

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Image: Reddit / Facebook @leahstoner

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"Corpses' toes"

Comments on the mum’s Facebook post to enquire as to what this weird fungus might be, were mostly informative confirming they were in fact the dead man’s fingers species.

“If they aren’t called ‘corpse toes’, they should be,” commented one woman.

“Amazing creepy fungi,” wrote another.

Photos of this particular festy fungi have been circulating in gardening groups, upsetting some who worried about stumbling across them in the dark.

"If I saw these at night in the woods I would not be calm," one wrote.

"Imagine shining your flashlight on this after hearing something outside of your tent," added someone else.

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"TERRIFYING"

Over on Reddit, users were freaked out by the lifelike nature of the mushrooms.

"This thing scares the heck out of me," wrote one user.

"Well that’s just hecking TERRIFYING - nightmare fuel right there," posted another.

According to Australian Geographic, this particular species of fungus does not grow in Australia but is usually found in the forests and deciduous woodlands of Europe and North America. 

That doesn’t mean Australia is without a range of its own weird and wonderful fungi.

There are the jelly ears or wood ears known as Auricularia auricula-judae that in Australia grow on dead wood in eucalyptus woodland and rainforests along the east coast.

Another fungus similar to dead man fingers that also bears a close resemblance to body parts are the ultra rare tea-tree fingers mushroom or Hypocreopsis amplectens, which look like little fat baby fingers growing out of rotten wood. 

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'Gruesome looking'

Photos of two of Australia’s most gruesome looking fungi were shared recently by The Botanic Gardens of Sydney Facebook page to show people what to look out for in their winter backyard.

The stinkhorn fungi. Image: Facebook @thebotanicgardensofsydney

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Produce the smell of decayed flesh

Looking like extras in Stranger Things, the octopus stinkhorn and the anemone stinkhorn produce a brown stinky substance on their ‘tentacles’ which produce the smell of decayed flesh (and sometimes fish) to attract flies and other insects.   

Apparently neither are harmful to humans or animals, even if they do look and smell quite revolting and are unlikely to become a stir fry ingredient anytime soon.

Originally published as The real reason for this ‘creepy’ mystery in woman's garden