THE DEVIL'S LIPSTICK

I learn something new almost every day – because of Blip! If I hadn’t been out looking for a bee on a flower, or something else to blip, I wouldn’t have noticed this interesting fungus. Its name is ‘Elegant Stinkhorn’, or my personal favorite, ‘The Devil’s Lipstick’! The top is a shiny green/black ooze - the flies really like that part, so you know it’s icky. It is distinct because of its bright orange color and also its odor – although I’m glad to report I didn’t notice any smells from mine - yet.

I planted a couple new bee-&-butterfly-attracting plants yesterday, but there wasn’t any hint of this orange ‘finger’ at that time – around 4 p.m. When I checked on the new plants this morning (9 am), I was surprised to find a couple of these nearly 6 inch tall ‘orange things’ in the garden. I thought it was amazing that something could grow from nothing to 6 inches in less than 24 hours, but Online it says they can grow in as little as 2 – 3 hours “due to rapid take-up of water”! Amazing! The cells are extra large allowing for rapid division, and the inside is hollow. Perhaps my planting created the right conditions for this to grow. Also, they don’t last even 24 hours – when I checked on them this afternoon, they were already quite wilted.