Monday, July 6, 2020

First, I noticed the flies...

This time of year the wind kicks up in the evening and by the time darkness falls it sometimes gets downright crazy. I know this, because I dread it. It means trash from the fir trees behind us rains down upon the patio, into the potted plants, and the stock tank pond. A quick clean-up becomes part of my daily routine. So I was out sweeping one morning when I realized there were flies, a lot of flies. It took awhile, but I located what it was they were after, see that red, uhm, "thing?"

It reminded me of a fungus that broke out years ago in one of our bamboo stock tanks, at the time I called them martian penises. I swear I did a blog post about them, but I could not find it. As with any mushroom/fungus question I hoped to get answered, I emailed my friend Tiffany. She was able to identify this "growth" as a stinkhorn mushroom. In her reply she also included a link to an online article that asked "Can an orgasm be caused by the scent of a mushroom? — the stinkhorn mushroom" ya, you should probably click on that link and go read the story.

Alternatively, or additionally, you can watch this video I took of the flies and the stinkhorn. Also, for what it's worth I did not detect a scent, thus I did not, well, you know...

Weather Diary, July 5: Hi 75, Low 57/ Precip 0 

All material © 2009-2020 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

15 comments:

  1. So... female viagra soon?

    :D

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    1. Well, if you believe everything you read...

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  2. Or maybe the Agave is just glad to see you? ;^)

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  3. Nature is SO very interesting! The plant is attention-grabbing all by itself but not many plants can claim such a great backstory.

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  4. Loved the link, particularly the idea this part: "Only when the gods are pleased will they bring forth this magical plant, and only if a woman leads a good and virtuous life will the gods reward her."

    So clearly you must live a good and virtuous life! (Even if you didn't detect a scent and so were not fully rewarded.)

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  5. ROFL I had the largest infestation of these stinking mushrooms ever this year. I don't know why but it was awful. Can't imagine that smell doing anything but revolting a human...now a fly might have other ideas.

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    1. Oh definitely, flies are attracted to all the disguising odors.

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  6. I hope you have dispatched this to the yard waste. It's a little creepy.

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    1. The actual protuberance only lasts a day and then sort of deflates so it really dispatches itself...handy!

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  7. Crikey. You learn something new every day, as they say.

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    1. They do say that, don't they? I suppose they're right.

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  8. Oh man, I just love all the weird stuff one discovers about fungi, ferns, lichen, mushrooms etc.

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