Identification: Orange horn-shaped fungus - what is it?

Hi, Has anyone had any success getting rid of this fungus? I have it in mqany of my flower beds. Digging out the horn and eggs hasn't gotten rid of it. Thanks for any info.

 

Hi--anyone been able to get rid of this fungus? I am in jackson NJ and have it all over my flower beds which have mulch....I also apparently unwittingly may have transported the darn fungus to my Cape May place as well since it is also in one of my beds there. Need to get rid of it; it attracts flies. HELP!!

 

If you really need to get rid of the mushrooms, you can buy a fungicide at a local home improvement center. Keep in mind that this will be a poison that you should keep kids and pets away from, and that you won't be able to eat anything from your garden for several days after you spray it. Just follow the directions on the fungicide.

 

Phallus impudicus var hadriani ? Or did the "splitters" win and make it simply P. hadriani.

Gary Williams

 

I live in PA, I have these orange horned (carrot shpaed) hollow fungi with geen slime growing out of wood chip mulch just like the pictures shown! I will try ammonia. I think they only stink when broken. Yuck. And no, I would never try eating.

Thanks for the advise and forum.

 

I also have these orange horn fungus growing in my mulch for the first time this summer. I live in South East PA and we have had a rainy summer. Could that be contributing to these growing? Could they have been in the mulch I purchased at Home Depot? Is there a safe way to get rid of them permantly? I have 2 dogs that eat the mulch so I'm concerned about applying products. How do they spread?

 

Quite possibly. Although we may not see the mushroom part growing for years, the main part that's dedicated to finding and absorbing the nutrients it needs to live remain hidden away under the grass, tree bark, wooden decking...you get the picture (or not, lol)
If you think of a plum tree whose fruit develops only for a short period .... and even then only under ideal conditions, then the "mushroom" is aso just a seed-bearing structure that usually only appears for a short while once a year. And then only when atmospheric conditions are just right!
Like the rest of the plum tree, the bulk of any given fungus also happens to be of no use to commercial pickers/retailers, voles and squirrels, deer, etc.

But. Like the tree body is to the plum, the fungal portion (mycelium) growing many yards in all directions underground, if you want to kill the entire thing so the seed/spore dispersal structures never come back, then killing just the mushroom is about as effective as picking a plum would be if one was trying to kill the plum-tree it come off. It just ain't gonna happen!

Sure. But not particularly important when dealing with the ability of microscopic spores to infiltrate whatever. You just can't protect against them not being in things without a special, concentrated effort at keeping it sterilized.

Since the bulk of fungi prefer a more acidic soil or substrate to grow in (a mycelial mor, eg), you could try changing the pH over to as Basic as the plants you want to keep can handle. Same with Fairy Rings (Marasmius oreades eg.) on lawns.

Or... Since you want to rid it from a pile of mulch, if you have an area where you can spread it all out so the mycelial "runners" become too dry and/or shocked by direct sunlight so it's fungal "roots" (sorta...) decide things are just too rude to live and just pack it all in. It could happen.... <g>

Which reminds me...Maybe just turn on FOX News and try exposing yor "mulch" to those Tea-Baggers. Basically your looking for any method of stressing it beyond the breaking point without damaging that which you want to keep around.

G~
(There! That was fun ;-)

 

It was Mutinus caninus for me... with green slime. :) I got rid of it by just ripping them out one by one and holding off on mulch delivery.

 

Yes. I was looking through the replies and it occured to me that the way, and the order of the comments, might leave the impression that we're talking about Phallus impudicus. Whereas the generally smaller and bright orange-colored stinkhorn being referred to in the title of this whole thread is, as you correctly point out, Mutinus caninus, or The Dog Stinkhorn.

 

Ammonia (NH3) is one of the most natural forms of nitrogen fertilizer. The only harm it can do is to cause fertilizer "burn" as if you added fresh manure to your lawn or garden. Truly this may kill grass or other plants. This is likely how it kills the fungus, by giving it too much of a good thing.

Compost for growing supermarket dung-loving mushrooms must be under a couple of percent ammonia or the mycelium won't grow, and these must be one of the more tolerant species.

I would take Mycorob's word over mine on all matters of mushroom id, but unless there are plants at stake that you don't want to lose, I'd still go with the Ammonia.

Water dilutes it and it is a natural fertilizer.

 

Frederick, Maryland

Found this in the garden last week ... the fungus was growing out of a plant ...

 

I live in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in Canada. I have found three of these orange horn shaped fungus in damp wood chips in the back yard in the last few days. It was great to go to this site to find out what it is, and it is amazing to see how wide-spread they are. Thanks for the info.

 

These things popped up in my Chicago suburban yard this summer and man was I worried. I'm glad to hear they're harmless. Can't say I noticed a horrible smell. It's been so hot here though and I've noticed that they fry up in the sun and die rather quickly.

I call them orange poo penises. That's what they look like to me and the awful white sack at the root confirmed it!

Nasty. I'm so buying ammonia today.

 

I have them too Julie....they are so gross, just reading all this I have the willies! ( I live in NE Pa and they are in the front of my house with the shrubs and wood chips) I have no clue if they smell cuz i hold my breathe when i go by them, lol. Gonna try the ammonia too and will let you know if it worked...did anyone try this? Does anyone know if they return every year?

 

Just found one of these Mutinus elegans 'horns' today in Reynoldsburg, OH. It looked exactly like a devil's horn from a Halloween costume sticking up out of the much when it caught my eye. This pic was taken after it was knocked from its roots by my other half this morning, seemed to have come up very quickly. There are several other 'eggs' in the 'nest' ready to pop out (one seen in upper left corner of pic). Didn't really notice the odor until he kicked it over. We had a lot of rain in between very hot temps (90's) for a number of weeks so evidently the conditions proved prime time for them to 'bloom'. It's pretty much as gross as previously described but I noticed no flies (yet). The awful smelling substance at the tip attracts flies and such who carry spores off to start the fungus somewhere else. I agree with another poster who said they were amazed at the things that grow on this earth and have said it many times! Very interesting to have seen it although, hopefully, it won't prove be a regular pest. :D

 

This is my latest find. I have got so used to seeing these things they are always around.

 

This absolutely is Lysurus periphragmoides. I found one on a woodland hiking trail on my land near Wakarusa, Kansas which is about 7 miles South of Topeka, the capital of Kansas. One of my dogs accidentally broke it at its base when running past, but the photo I took (attached) shows the broken end with the appearance of the wall of the tube. which is spongy. It also shows the open egg sack at the base. It is clearly orange. I found it after a huge two day rainfall (four inches). The material at the head looks like chocolate syrup dripping from the openings. It took my wife a long time to find the exact genus and species in her mushroom book using my photo. Now perhaps I could ask you a question. After handling it, I could not get the smell off my fingers. I tried vinegar, ammonia, various deodorizing shampoos, Jewel Weed soap used for poison ivy, and even an organic litter box deodorant, all to no avail. Does anyone on this forum know how to get rid of this stink? It smells like mushroom magnified about 4000 times. It was just on the tips of three fingers, but my wife can smell it from 10 feet away. The pic is a 4.5 MB .jpg, so the detail is excellent when enlarged. If the pic on this post has been made smaller, email me, and I will send you the larger file.

 

Sorry, I was wrong. Though this is Lysurus periphragmoides in my pic from yesterday morning, the original post shows a tapered end, so it must be as others have identified,

Mutinus caninus or elegans