How very FIFA

In keeping with a World Cup theme, in some parts of the landscape particularly those where mulch has been applied there are a number of what look like miniature soccer balls on the ground. They are not puffballs but the membranes protecting Latticed Stinkhorns or Red Cage Fungi (Clathrus ruber), pictured below. This fungus is native to southern Europe but is now found world-wide. When the membrane ruptures the red-orange lattice-shaped fungus emerges.

The lattice is lined with a dark slime that contains the fungus spores. The slime smells of rotten meat, hence the appellation ‘stinkhorn’. The smell attracts many species of invertebrates particularly flies. The invertebrates walk in the slime whilst feeding and when they leave, the spores are carried with them.

It is lucky this is not a scratch’n’sniff blog – the smell is quite overpowering.