Devil's Fingers

I've found specimens of clathrus archeri (devil's fingers or octopus stinkhorn) on the nature reserve in most recent years but never more than a handful.This morning I was walking through a vestige of common land outside the reserve and found dozens and dozens of them in all stages of development (see extra). The smell is horrible - like a dead badger or fox - which attracts insects to the sticky black gleba thus spreading the spores. The fungi is native to Australia and, it is believed, was unwittingly introduced to Britain and other parts of Europe, by Australian troops during the First World War. Its been spreading ever since.