LITTLE BIG STINKHORN

Stinkhorn Mushroom

(Photo courtesy of Silas Kaumakahia Aqui)

Another UGO (unidentified growing object) siting in Wailua Homesteads on the island of Kauai makes today's blog headlines.

My brother, Charlie, found this particular oddity specimen growing just a foot away from the original one he'd seen a few weeks ago.  Here is the link for new readers to peruse and for other to review:

http://hawaiianodysseus.blogspot.com/2011/05/alien-trespasser.html

This clearly is a testament to Mother Nature's way of using the ants that were busily carrying on their transactions amidst the gooey secretions of the original stinkhorn to transport any adhering spores to another site.  

Among the faithful followers of Hawaiian Odysseus are several amateur mycologists (mushroom scientists).  It is our hope that you find these occasional blog posts about your favorite biological subject interesting and provocative and...maybe...an additional incentive for finally making that trip to the jurassic Garden Island.

In closing, here's a closeup of  what Hawaiian Odysseus has dubbed, LITTLE BIG STINKHORN.

See, but don't smell!

(Photo courtesy of Silas Kaumakahia Aqui)

ALIEN TRESPASSER?

Stink Horn Mushroom
(Photo courtesy of Silas K. Aqui)

Aliens already inhabit our planet.

While taking care of his chores the other day, my brother, Charlie, came across one of these extraterrestrials.  I want to share with you his own words...

 I was taking out the trash and looked down below the hedges and spotted this mushroom.  At first, I thought it was a kid's toy and then looked closer and realized it was a live mushroom. I live  next to the wettest spot in the world, Mt. Wai'ale'ale, on the Garden Island of Kauai. This is the second time I've seen this mushroom. As you can see, the stem is a bright orange, and the cap looks like creamy chocolate.

--Silas Kaumakahia Aqui (aka Charlie)

A small army of ants had already been dispatched by their queen to forage this unusual mushroom.  The alluring colors and sticky, stink to humans but aromatic to insects, chocolate-colored cap attracted our six-footed miniature friends.  (If you look closely at the picture or have the ability to zoom in for a close-up, you can see the ants clustered just below the brown cap.)

Indeed, the very action of ants or other living organisms traipsing around in the gooey substance ensures the proliferation of this unusual mushroom.  Spores become attached to the insects because of the slime and are thus rapidly and effectively spread to other areas.

Charlie wasted no time in attempting to identify this new arrival in the yard.  He emailed the mycologists (mushroom experts) at mushroompatch.com and asked them for help in identifying the stranger.

It took the experts four days to respond, but they actually were able to identify the subject.

The mushroom is called a Stink Horn.  The link below will take you to an article with great information about this uncommon mushroom.

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/mutinus_elegans.html
(With acknowledgment and gratitude to Michael Kuo and the mushroomexpert.com staff.)

My brother's sharp eye and follow-up made for another fun-to-write post.  It certainly got me thinking about the possibility someday--another of my bucket list agenda--of hiking around in the Olympic Forest of Washington state and looking for mushrooms.