Stinkhorns

The common stinkhorn fungus sprouts from a soft leathery "devil's egg", which sits in soil or amongst dead leaves. The toadstool, which grows out of them, is tall and straight.

Stinkhorn and Stinkhorn "eggs"

It smells horrible. It grows very quickly, and can reach a height of 15 centimetres within just a few hours. It manages this by absorbing water from the outer jelly egg layer.

The cap is coated with a smelly slime, which is full of spores. Flies and slugs find the slime irresistible, and within just two hours, it has all been eaten.

The slugs and flies then move off, helping to distribute the spores to places where new stinkhorns can grow.