ooerr indeed Ian-- I think you need 'one of the clever ones'. to answer !

The ants seem to like it, although I have noticed they are just sitting there now instead of scurrying around as they were this morning. Perhaps it's "magic" and they're all feeling a bit squiffy?

Stinkhorn Fungus, pull it up and burn it, you can't eat them.

Thanks Doctorbob, I didn't really fancy eating it but was worried that Holly might get hold of some of it if it grew all over the place?

Now's your chance to teach Holly about not eating stuff from the garden, because some of it might be poisonous.

Doctorbob has nthe correct id, but you can't just 'pull' it up - do you want to wrap your hand round that!!!! When we get one I use a hand fork to dig underneath it and remove the bulbous underground portion as well as as many rooting threads as possible.
We suddenly had a spate of them several years ago. They kept coming back for a few years but, now, we don't seem to have them anymore.

Oh and they stink like rotting meat to attract the flies that pollenate them... truly stomach turning! As himself says we had a spate a few years ago - thankfully they have now gone again, sitting in the garden with a glass of wine and getting a wiff of that is not fun.

Thanks Guys, I'll dig the thing out in the morning!

Phallus impudicus, is its latin name if you are interested. They are very ooo er arnt they. local name round our way when i was a kid was stinking willies!

You got it SBG :-)

Pull it up and burn it? This is not a disease! Occasional saprophytic fungi in your garden are fine no matter what shape they take.

Incidentally, this is one fungus that like flowering plants uses an animal to spread itself. The fungus emits a rotting smell and the spores which are contained in a slimy mass on the tip attract flies that inadvertently disperse them. Clever.

The stench ensured that any appearing in our garden were dug up Fractal... we certainly did not burn though.

I don't fancy having our Holly pulling it up or worse trying to eat the thing so up it must come!

Thank you all once again for your help. ;~))

Ian you really need to teach Holly not to eat anything from the garden without talking to you first. You will be amazed at the number of toxic plants we all have in our gardens!

Hi MG I've PM'ed you!

on that point I fully agree with Mg. I taught both my girls what to do. I remember them coming to show me some lovely red berries they had found. they were nightshade! I t is a good way of showing holly the wonders of nature.