Page 58 - Thola Issue 17
P. 58
56 Stinkhorn Fungi
FANTASTIC
FUNGUS
FIGURE 4B (ABOVE): Mature L. corallocephala shows damage to its stem.
Chris and Margaret Appleton relate their discovery of the unusual stinkhorn fungus Lysurus corralocephala in their garden in Westville.
A bizarre fungus appeared in our garden in Durban towards the
end of October 2013 (29o51’01”S, 30o54’54”E; altitude 250 m). Although we have been here since 1996, this was the first time we had seen one. With
a little help from Google, we identified it as the fruiting body of the stinkhorn Lysurus corallocephala, a member of the basidiomycete family Phallaceae.
It was originally named Kalchbrennera corallocephala from specimens collected in Angola between 1853 and 1860 by Friedrich Welwitsch, an Austrian medical doctor-turned-botanist. Welwitsch had been commissioned by the Portuguese government to survey the natural history of Angola, especially anything that ‘might be economically useful’. It was scientifically described as L. corallocephala by Welwitsch and Frederick Currey in volume 26 of the Transactions of the Linnean Society of London in 1868. Welwitsch is, of
thola: VOLUME 17. 2014/15
