is this scary looking or what !

About 2 weeks ago, I was watering my cannas that I had transplanted. As I looked down I noticed this serpent looking ----thing---- coming from the ground.
Thought it was strange, and decided to just let it grow and see what comes of it. Well, it got nastier looking as the days went by. Got to be about 8 inches
tall and then I noticed that it appeared to be bleeding, or so it looked that way. I also noticed that a few flies were on it. What in the ------ heck is this ? My
nurseryman didnt remember its name but said it was a fungus and that the flies are the ones that carry the spores around yard to yard. It had no smell. When
I kicked it over , it snapped and was hollow inside with multiple tubes surrounding it. I know someone out there in DAVES GARDEN knows what it is !
It was freaking me out. I've included 3 pics of it for your viewing pleasure. Mark

Yep, your nurseryman is right, it's a fungus, a species of stinkhorn. If you'd found it a day or two earlier, you'd have noticed the smell, but that one's old enough for the smell to have dispersed.

Resin

Thanks RESIN for your response. Am glad its gone, but should I be expecting any more of these fungi to be raising their ugly heads in my garden again ? What sort of conditions do they like ? Thanks again.

mark

These are absolutely fascinating fungi - I would be thrilled to find one in my garden!

http://www.mushroomexpert.com/phallaceae.html

They grow in mulch and compost, and are harmless (if a bit smelly!).

Resin

Well, I got another one growing, much thinner and not as tall by any means. Its just growing in regular dirt beneath my canna lilies. Its about 4 inches away from where the other one was growing. Is this a UK thing, because you both are from the UK. I have never seen nor heard of such a fungi, and my nurseryman couldnt even find a name for it, just the fact that it is a fungi. Thank you both for you input. Have a great week to come !

Mark

I had a stinkhorn that resembled a morel that popped up one day some years back. When I saw it I thought no way! When I smelled it I realized what it was but never knew their was a stinkhorn morel even though I know of stinkhorns. If I can find the pic I took of it Ill show it.

that would be cool to see " perk ", thanks for your input as well. i believe in the phrase : theres a first time for everything.

LOL, Mark, your original shots of the dying stinkhorns remind me of the blasted underground worms in movie 'Tremors'. I get them almost every spring, and they really are fascinating, even if they are also ugly to some.