About this fungus
Red Cage Fungus is a fungus in the Phallaceae family. Its habitat and field characteristics are summarised below.
A striking stinkhorn that begins as a whitish egg and rapidly expands into a hollow orange-red to red cage. The mature body is roughly round or oval, with thick spongy arms joining around open meshes rather than forming a conventional cap and stem.
What to check
Confirm a complete lattice of hollow, soft arms arising from a pale sac at the base. Dark olive-brown to brown gleba coats the inner surfaces of the cage and attracts flies with its strong carrion-like odour. There are no gills, pores or true stem, and no ring. The overall cage must be checked carefully because related lattice stinkhorns occur in warmer regions.
Variation
The cage may be globose, oval or somewhat vertically stretched. Fresh arms are orange-red to deep red and can fade to pinkish orange as the fruit body ages. Some specimens have thick rounded meshes while others are more open, but strongly raised rims around every opening suggest a different Clathrus species.
Lookalikes
Clathrus crispus has conspicuous corona-like grooves or raised rims surrounding the openings, and one former app photograph was this species. Clathrus archeri opens into separate finger-like arms rather than a closed cage. Ileodictyon cibarium usually forms a paler and more open wire-like lattice, while Colus species form a different basket or column arrangement. Regional keys may be needed outside Europe.
Habitat and range
A saprotrophic fungus growing from decomposing plant material in gardens, parks, lawns, cultivated soil, compost and bark mulch. It is native or long established around the Mediterranean and is now recorded in temperate Europe, parts of Asia and parts of the Americas. Fruiting season depends strongly on climate and can extend through winter in warm regions.
Food safety
Inedible.
Species to compare
Similar mushrooms to compare against: