16 Most Bizarre Mushroom And Fungi Species In The World

With about 14,000 described mushrooms currently inhabiting dank forest floors, decaying tree trunks, and dung piles, there are bound to be some strange-looking varieties. Some depart entirely from the toadstool silhouette—the stereotypical rounded-cap-atop-a-stem set—with lengthy hairlike spines, fanning shell shapes, flower-esque pedals, and lattice designs. Others that lack uniqueness in shape are fantastic in their royal blue, indigo, and even bioluminescent colors.

The grotesque-looking fingers are coated in a smelly slime that attracts insects that land on the mushrooms and then spread the weird mushroom's spores when they fly off again. It seems that Devil's Fingers are quite good at reproducing as they reached the United Kingdom by way of Australian weapons. Indeed, though Devil's Fingers were first recorded in Britain, it is believed that they originated in Australia or New Zealand and reached Europe by way of some spores that might have clung to munitions in transit. In Australia, the bizarre fungus is called Octopus Stinkhorn, and in parts of the United States, it is commonly called Octopus Fungus.