Phallus indusiatus, commonly called the basket stinkhorn, bamboo mushrooms, bamboo pith, long net stinkhorn, crinoline stinkhorn, bridal veil, or veiled lady, is a species of fungus in the family Phallaceae, known as stinkhorns. First described scientifically in 1798 by French botanist Étienne Pierre Ventenat, the species has often been referred to a separate genus Dictyophora along with other Phallus species featuring an indusium.
The fruit body is characterised by a conical to bell-shaped cap on a stalk and a delicate lacy "skirt", or indusium, that hangs from beneath the cap and reaches nearly to the ground. The mature fruit bodies are up to tall with a conical to bell-shaped cap that is wide. The cap is covered with a greenish-brown spore-containing slime, which attracts flies and other insects that eat the spores and disperse them. P. indusiatus can be distinguished from similar species by differences in distribution, size, colour, and indusium length.
The species has a cosmopolitan distribution in tropical areas and is found in southern Asia, Africa, the Americas, and Australia. It grows in woodlands and gardens in rich soil and well-rotted woody material. An edible mushroom featured as an ingredient in Chinese haute cuisine, it is used in stir-fries and chicken soups. The mushroom, grown commercially and commonly sold in Asian markets, is rich in protein, carbohydrates, and dietary fiber. The mushroom also contains various bioactive compounds, and has antioxidant and antimicrobial properties. It has a recorded history of use in Chinese medicine extending back to the 7th century CE and features in Nigerian folklore.
Taxonomy Phallus indusiatus was initially described by French naturalist Étienne Pierre Ventenat in 1798, and sanctioned under that name by Christiaan Hendrik Persoon in 1801. One author anonymously gave his impressions of Ventenat's discovery in an 1800 publication: This beautiful species, which is sufficiently characterised to distinguish it from every other individual of the class, is copiously produced in Dutch Guiana, about 300 paces from the sea, and nearly as far from the left bank of the river of Surinam. It was communicated to me by the elder Vaillant,Father of the more famous François Levaillant, explorer and ornithologist, the elder Levaillant was a merchant of Metz who served as French consul in Dutch Guiana until 1763. who discovered it in 1755 on some raised ground which was never overflowed by the highest tides, and is formed of a very fine white sand, covered with a thin stratum of earth. The prodigious quantity of individuals of this species which grow at the same time, the very different periods of their expansion, the brilliancy and the varied shades of their colours, present a prospect truly picturesque. The fungus was later placed in a new genus, Dictyophora, in 1809 by Nicaise Auguste Desvaux; it was then known for many years as Dictyophora indusiata. Christian Gottfried Daniel Nees von Esenbeck placed the species in Hymenophallus in 1817, as H. indusiatus. Both genera were eventually returned to synonyms of Phallus and the species is now known again by its original name.
Curtis Gates Lloyd described the variety rochesterensis in 1909, originally as a new species, Phallus rochesterensis. It was found in Kew, Australia. A form with a pink-coloured indusium was reported by Vincenzo de Cesati in 1879 as Hymenophallus roseus, and later called Dictyophora indusiata f. rosea by Yosio Kobayasi in 1965; it is synonymous with Phallus cinnabarinus. A taxon described in 1936 as Dictyophora lutea and variously known for years as Dictyophora indusiata f. lutea, D. indusiata f. aurantiaca, or Phallus indusiatus f. citrinus, was formally transferred to Phallus in 2008 as a distinct species, P. luteus.
Etymology The specific epithet is the Latin adjective , "wearing an undergarment". The former generic name Dictyophora is derived from the Ancient Greek words (diktyon, "net"), and (pherō, "to bear"), hence "bearing a net". Phallus indusiatus has many common names based on its appearance, including long net stinkhorn, crinoline stinkhorn,Hall (2003), p. 19. basket stinkhorn, bridal veil fungus, and veiled lady. The Japanese name , derived from the word kinugasa, refers to the wide-brimmed hats that featured a hanging silk veil to hide and protect the wearer's face. A Chinese common name that alludes to its typical growth habitat is "bamboo mushroom" ().
Description
Immature fruit bodies of P. indusiatus are initially enclosed in an egg-shaped to roughly spherical subterranean structure encased in a peridium. The "egg" ranges from whitish to buff to reddish-brown, measures up to in diameter, and usually has a thick mycelial cord attached at the bottom. As the mushroom matures, the pressure caused by the enlargement of the internal structures cause the peridium to tear and the fruit body rapidly emerges from the "egg". The mature mushroom is up to tall and girded with a net-like structure called the indusium (or less technically a "skirt") that hangs down from the conical to bell-shaped cap. The netlike openings of the indusium may be polygonal or round in shape.Chang & Miles (2004), p. 344. Well-developed specimens have an indusium that reaches to the volva and flares out somewhat before collapsing on the stalk.
The cap is wide and its reticulated (pitted and ridged) surface is covered with a layer of greenish-brown and foul-smelling slime, the gleba, which initially partially obscures the reticulations. The top of the cap has a small hole. The stalk is long, and thick. The hollow stalk is white, roughly equal in width throughout its length, sometimes curved, and spongy. The ruptured peridium remains as a loose volva at the base of the stalk. Fruit bodies develop during the night, The growth is very rapid. It can rise to a height of in a single hour between 7 and 8 am solar time and to a height of by 9 am Bulletin du Jardin Botanique Buitenzorg, volume 12 (3rd series) issue 1 (1931) p.94 and require 10–15 hours to fully develop after emerging from the peridium.Chang & Miles (2004), p. 348. They are short-lived, typically lasting no more than a few days. At that point the slime has usually been removed by insects, leaving the pale off-white, bare cap surface exposed. The spores are thin-walled, smooth, elliptical or slightly curved, hyaline (translucent), and measure 2–3 by 1–1.5 μm.
Similar species
Phallus multicolor is similar in overall appearance, but it has a more brightly coloured cap, stem and indusium, and it is usually smaller. It is found in Australia, Guam, Sumatra, Java, Borneo, Papua New Guinea, Zaire, and Tobago as well as Hawaii. The cap of the Indo-Pacific species P. merulinus appears smooth when covered with gleba, and is pale and wrinkled once the gleba has worn off. In contrast, the cap surface of P. indusiatus tends to have conspicuous reticulations that remain clearly visible under the gleba. Also, the indusium of P. merulinus is more delicate and shorter than that of P. indusiatus, and is thus less likely to collapse under its own weight. Common in eastern North America and Japan, and widely recorded in Europe, the species P. duplicatus has a smaller indusium that hangs from the bottom of the cap, and sometimes collapses against the stalk.
Found in Asia, Australia, Hawaii, southern Mexico, and Central and South America, P. cinnabarinus grows to tall, and has a more offensive odour than P. indusiatus. It attracts flies from the genus Lucilia (family Calliphoridae), rather than the house flies of the genus Musca that visit P. indusiatus. P. echinovolvatus, described from China in 1988, is closely related to P. indusiatus, but can be distinguished by its volva that has a spiky (echinulate) surface, and its higher preferred growth temperature of . P. luteus, originally considered a form of P. indusiatus, has a yellowish reticulate cap, a yellow indusium, and a pale pink to reddish-purple peridium and rhizomorphs. It is found in Asia and Mexico.
Distribution The range of Phallus indusiatus is tropical, including Africa (Congo, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zaire), South America (Brazil Guyana, and Venezuela), Central America (Costa Rica), and Tobago. In North America, its range is restricted to Mexico. Asian localities include Indonesia, Nepal, Malaysia, India, Southern China, Japan, and Taiwan. It has also been collected in Australia.
Ecology Like all Phallus species, P. indusiatus is saprobic—deriving nutrients from breaking down wood and plant organic matter. The fruit bodies grow singly or in groups in disturbed ground and among wood chips. In Asia, it grows among bamboo forests, and typically fruits after heavy rains.Hall (2003), p. 247. The method of reproduction for stinkhorns, including P. indusiatus, is different from most agaric mushrooms, which forcibly eject their spores. Stinkhorns instead produce a sticky spore mass that has a sharp, sickly-sweet odour of carrion.Chang & Miles (2004), p. 346. The cloying stink of mature fruit bodies—detectable from a considerable distance—is attractive to certain insects. Species recorded visiting the fungus include stingless bees of the genus Trigona, and flies of the families Drosophilidae and Muscidae. Insects assist in spore dispersal by consuming the gleba and depositing excrement containing intact spores to germinate elsewhere. Although the function of the indusium is not known definitively, it may visually entice insects not otherwise attracted by the odour, and serve as a ladder for crawling insects to reach the gleba.
Uses
Culinary In eastern Asia, P. indusiatus is considered a delicacy and an aphrodisiac. Previously only collected in the wild, where it is not abundant, it was difficult to procure. The mushroom's scarcity meant that it was usually reserved for special occasions. In the time of China's Qing dynasty, the species was collected in Yunnan Province and sent to the Imperial Palaces to satisfy the appetite of Empress Dowager Cixi, who particularly enjoyed meals containing edible fungi.Hu (2005), pp. 94–5. It was one of the eight featured ingredients of the "Bird's Nest Eight Immortals Soup" served at a banquet to celebrate her 60th birthday. This dish, served by descendants of the Confucius family in celebrations and longevity banquets, contained ingredients that were "all precious food, delicacies from land and sea, fresh, tender, and crisp, appropriately sweet and salty".Hu (2005), p. 96. Another notable use was a state banquet held for American diplomat Henry Kissinger on his visit to China to reestablish diplomatic relations in the early 1970s.Chang & Miles (2004), p. 343. One source writes of the mushroom: "It has a fine and tender texture, fragrance and is attractive, beautiful in shape, fresh and crispy in taste."Hu (2005), p. 110. The dried fungus, commonly sold in Asian markets, is prepared by rehydrating and soaking or simmering in water until tender. Sometimes used in stir-frys, it is traditionally used as a component of rich chicken soups. The rehydrated mushroom can also be stuffed and cooked.