Mushroom 'from hell' pops up in Lismore

BIZARRE fungi reported to emit a foul smell comparative to "rotting meat, faeces, sewage” and "various mixtures of corruption and death".

The Aseroe rubra (Latin translation is disgusting red juice), commonly known as the anemone stinkhorn, sea anemone fungus and starfish fungus, was spotted in Captain Rous Park by a Lismore City Council Parks and Gardens employee. Picture: Jasmine Burke

IT'S been dubbed 'the mushroom from hell' and has been reported by online sources to emit a foul smell comparative to "rotting meat, faeces, sewage" and "various mixtures of corruption and death".

The Aseroe rubra (Latin translation is 'disgusting red juice'), commonly known as the anemone stinkhorn, sea anemone fungus and starfish fungus, was spotted in Captain Rous Park by a Lismore City Council Parks and Gardens employee.

The short-lived fungi is a common and widespread basidiomycete fungus recognisable for its foul odour of carrion and its sea anemone shape when mature.

Found in gardens on mulch and in grassy areas, it resembles a red star-shaped structure covered in off-putting sticky brownish slime on a white stalk.

The bizarre plant's odour attracts flies, which ingest and trample the spores, distributing them further afield and starting new fungi colonies.

An online article on ABC Open reported the Aseroe rubra has a big international history that started on May 1, 1792 when it became the very first Australian fungi collected and scientifically documented.

It reads: "Jacques Labillardière, a French botanist, visited Tasmania on an exploration voyage and discovered Aseroe rubra growing in the appropriately named Recherche Bay in southern Tasmania."

Since then it has also been observed along the east coast of Australia, New Zealand, some pacific islands and South Africa and South America.