The cage fungus looks and smells like decaying meat - on purpose. Its goopy lattice gives off a rotten odor that attracts flies, which help spread its spores far and wide. It's like a bee to a flower, but way more macabre and putrid.
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Cage fungus gets its name from the shape of its spongy lattice-shaped mushroom. “It's this kind of red-orange geodesic dome,” says naturalist Damon Tighe. “They can get up to the size of a softball and they're open on the inside where they've got this sticky, gooey substance called gleba.”
The gleba contains the fungus’ reproductive spores and it’s the gleba that gives the mushroom its fetid aroma.
“It reeks of death,” says Tighe. “If you get up close to it, there are these sharp notes that hit your nose that just make you recoil immediately.”
Flies that normally feed on stinky things like carrion and feces are drawn to the smell. They lap up the gleba, inadvertently downing millions of the spores and spreading them far and wide.
--- What is red cage fungus?
Clathrus ruber is a type of stinkhorn mushroom. Like most mushrooms, what you see above ground is only a small percent of the entire organism. Most of it is made up of a network of thin threads called the mycelium. When the conditions are right, the mycelium produces an “egg” that pops up above ground. When it's mature, the lattice structure called a receptacle bursts out from the “egg.”
--- Why do cage fungus smell so bad?
The gleba found on the inside surfaces of the cage fungus fruiting body contains compounds like dimethyl sulfide, which smells like rotten eggs. The foul smell attracts flies that spread the fungus’ spores.
--- What do cage fungus eat?
Cage fungus is saprobic, feeding on dead and dying wood. The fungus’ mycelium digest the cellulose in the wood, returning nutrients to the soil.
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