That day, we came across an Aseroe rubra at the prime of its life cycle (the first of the nearly perfect ones). And most importantly, it was so close — only 25 minutes from home, near the waterfall. I don’t think it’s a particularly rare mushroom in the wild, but over several years and just as many “mushroom seasons,” we’ve only encountered four specimens in the local forests, with colors ranging from muted pink to red. We’ve probably seen younger forms in the egg-shaped stage more than once, but back then, we didn’t have the experience to identify them. Each time it’s a small miracle: spotting a “sea anemone” among the glare, shadows, fallen flowers, and leaves — seemingly out of place in the forest world. This living star-shaped structure, with tentacle-like rays bizarrely wriggling from a funnel-shaped center. The middle is filled with a jelly-like substance of a very complex, unpleasant color, which perfectly matches its smell.

In fact, as mycologists say, the mushroom smells at all stages of development when it has a fruiting body, but during the sporulation period, it is most aromatic, with notes of carrion, feces, and rot being more pronounced. In my experience, the smell is only noticeable at the level of the forest floor, which is normal for the human sense of smell. Of course, the tiny flies, attracted by the mixture of enticing odors characteristic of all fungi in the Phallaceae family (commonly known as stinkhorns), have a more subtle and specialized sense of smell. This odor mimicry is an excellent way of spreading mushroom spores.