I spent a few hours this morning in the New Forest which is showing the effects of the last 48hours rain fall. It was worth the wet feet as I found a fungus I had only seen once before but today I came across a good sized clump of them.

Devil’s Fingers (Clathrus archeri) is a rare fungus that was first found in the New Forest in around the year 2000. It is also known as octopus stinkhorn. At that time in had only been observed in one small area in the southwest in the UK.

The ‘egg’ part of the fungi has the size and shape of a golf ball lying on the ground, but is attached to an underground network of mycelium threads by a long thick strand.

The red tentacles emerge, initially joined at the tip they then bend backwards into a star shape. There are always at least three or four tentacles, however sometimes they have as many as seven or eight. The upper surface is covered with a olive-coloured, slime which contains the spores and smells of rotting flesh. Flies and beetle are attracted to the smell the slime sticks to them when they come into contact with it. The spores are dispersed far and wide.

It is thought Devils Fingers were introduced to Europe with various war supplies, about 1914. The New Forest was used intensively in both world wars which is probably why it is hotspot for these fungi.