Ileodictyon gracile (Smooth Cage)

The fruit body is a white, roughly globular, cage-like structure when fresh but it dries easily and then collapses into a flattened cage-like structure. In the expanded state it can be more than 20 centimetres or so in diameter (but usually is much smaller). The arms of the cage are smooth and broaden at the junctions.

It belongs to the group known colloquially as Stinkhorns and on the arms you find a smelly, khaki-brown slime that contains the spores and attracts dung or carrion-loving insects, which act as spore dispersers.

The fruit body starts out somewhat egg-like, enveloped in a gelatinous layer within a whitish membrane. The ‘egg’ is only a few centimetres in diameter. At maturity the cage expands, breaks through the surrounding membrane and expands to its full size and shape. A mature fruit body is unattached to the ground.

This species is found on the ground in a wide variety of habitats – including Canberra gardens.

Look-alike

Ileodictyon cibarium is the other white, cage-like Stinkhorn found in Australia. Its arms are a little wrinkled or corrugated and do not broaden at the junctions.